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Contracts worth over $6.5 billion signed to kick-start mining sector
Contracts worth $6.557 billion for seven large-scale mines were signed on Thursday, August 31, between the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum and various companies.
These contracts were signed in the presence of the Islamic Emirate of Afghansitan’s Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar Akhund.
The contracts involved four sections of the major iron ore mine in Ghorian district in Herat Province.
The company that secured the contract for the first section was Watan Darakhshan Company and its subsidiary Azaran Industrial Structures Company.
Sahil Middle East Mining & Logistics Company and its Afghan and Turkish partners, Dara-e-Noor and Epcol respectively, were awarded the contract for the second section.
Shamsh, an Afghan company, along with British companies GBM and AD Resources, were awarded the contract for the third block.
The fourth contract went to Bakhtar Steel Company and its Iranian partners Ahya Sepahan and Parsian.
In addition, the contract for one section of the lead and zinc mine in Tulak district of Ghor province was awarded to Afghan Invest Company.
The contract to excavate gold from the Samti mine in Chah Ab district of Takhar province was awarded to the China-Afghanistan Company with Zarawar Afghanistan Private Company being the shareholder; and a contract for the second Mes Aynak mine in Logar province was awarded to Turia Private Company.
A total of $6.557 billion will be invested in these seven projects, which will collectively create thousands of jobs.
This comes just days after the acting minister of mines and petroleum Shahabuddin Delawar met with Wang Jiarui, the general director of China Metallurgical Group Corporation (MCC), which has the contract to mine copper at Mes Aynak.
Delawar and Wang discussed operational details as well as issues around the archaeological site, which still contains buried artifacts.
Delawar said at the meeting that the Aynak copper mine project was a key priority for the IEA and that their main goal is to get the mining sector up and running.
“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is committed to putting this project into operation as soon as possible, so that its practical work begins and job opportunities are created for the people,” he said.
Local officials in Afghanistan’s northeastern Badakhshan province have called on traders to help prevent drug trafficking and invest their capital in legal and productive sectors.
Jamaluddin Haqjo, deputy governor of Badakhshan, made the remarks during the opening of the first branch of the Bank-e-Millie Afghan in Fayzabad, the provincial capital.
Haqjo said thousands of people across Afghanistan are currently addicted to drugs and urged traders not to invest in drug trafficking.
Meanwhile, other local officials attending the ceremony called on people to contribute to the country’s economic development rather than oppose the government.
They said expanding economic activities could help reduce poverty and other challenges affecting thousands of families.
Officials also urged banks and traders to conduct their activities in accordance with Islamic principles.
The newly opened Bank-e-Millie Afghan branch is expected to provide banking services to residents of Badakhshan. Bank officials said government employees receiving their salaries through the bank would also be eligible for loan services in accordance with the bank’s policies.
Residents welcomed the opening of the branch, saying it would make banking services more accessible. They also called for banks to establish branches in remote districts of Badakhshan.
Officials urged traders and government institutions to support the bank by investing and using its services.
Seven Afghan migrants have been killed after a vehicle carrying Afghan migrants collided with a fuel-carrying vehicle in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan province.
According to the human rights organization HalVash, the accident occurred on Friday in the Sarbaz area of Sistan and Baluchestan.
Siyavash Mohbi, the head of Iran’s traffic police in Sistan and Baluchestan, said the Afghan nationals had entered Iran illegally.
He added that nine other people were injured in the incident.
Mohbi attributed the accident to the negligence of the driver of the vehicle carrying the migrants.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has announced that its Contact Group on Afghanistan will meet on the sidelines of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
OIC Secretary-General Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed is leading a high-level delegation from the organization’s General Secretariat to participate in the UN General Assembly’s High-Level Week and hold bilateral meetings with heads of delegations from member states as well as senior UN and international officials.
The OIC will also convene its Annual Coordination Meeting of Member States’ Foreign Ministers at UN Headquarters.
According to the organization, several ministerial contact groups and specialized committees will meet on the sidelines of the General Assembly. These include groups focusing on Palestine, Muslim communities and minorities, regional issues in Europe, Jammu and Kashmir, Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, and Afghanistan.
The OIC did not provide a specific date for the Afghanistan Contact Group meeting.
Badakhshan official calls on traders to help prevent drug trafficking
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Asian Games open in Japan as Afghanistan sends 34 athletes
Seven Afghan migrants killed in traffic accident in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan
OIC to hold Afghanistan Contact Group meeting on sidelines of UN General Assembly
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