Contacts: In Kabul Abdul Raouf Zia (93) 702 80800 Azia@worldbank.org In Washington: Erik Nora (202) 458 4735 enora@worldbank.org WASHINGTON, February 22, 2007─ The World Bank approved today a US$25 million grant to Afghanistan, designed to improve the country’s investment climate and infrastructure facilities. The Private Sector Development (PSD) Support Project aims to provide land services and facilities including electricity, water and telecommunications; and build capacity of government agencies to develop and implement PSD-related programs. It will also help improve capacity of the government and its agencies to promote Afghanistan as an investment destination and provide investment facilitation services. “Afghanistan needs to develop a dynamic private sector to provide jobs and drive growth,” said Mariam J. Sherman, World Bank Acting Manager for Afghanistan. “A strong private sector will provide the foundation for economic growth, long term prosperity, and economic sustainability.” Private sector development is one of the priority areas for the Afghanistan Interim National Development Strategy and the Bank’s strategy in Afghanistan. The government recognizes that the private sector will offer the employment opportunities for the Afghan people that the state can no longer provide, and will also provide the tax revenues that will help funding health, education and other services. Md. Reazul Islam, World Bank Senior Private Sector Development Specialist and Project Team Leader said that while there is considerable private entrepreneurial activity in Afghanistan, much of it is informal. “The challenge of private sector development is to expand formal entrepreneurial activity and induce a shift from an informal environment to a formal contract-based private sector.” This project will complement work of other donors and help Afghanistan address the most important limitations to private investment, especially land constraints and power supply, though industrial park development. By helping to address these constraints the project will attract private investment in a variety of sectors, especially light manufacturing, food products and carpets. The project will fund the construction of an industrial park in Hissar-e-Shahi near Jalalabad. This industrial park will help stimulate the local economy, generate employment, and raise much needed tax revenues. The project will also fund capacity building in Afghanistan Investment Support Agency (AISA) and the Ministry of Commerce and Industries. The project has been developed in collaboration with other donors, including United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) and United States Agency for International Development (USAID). This project will be implemented over four years under the overall leadership of the Afghanistan Investment Support Agency (AISA). - ### -
For more information on the Bank’s work in Afghanistan, please visit http://www.worldbank.org.af
For project information, please visit the project web site. |
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