Business
India to build Shahtoot dam in Kabul
India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar announced on Tuesday at the Geneva Conference 2020 that his country will build a new dam to provide Kabul residents with safe drinking water.
Addressing delegates virtually, Jaishankar said the Shahtoot dam will help supply Kabul residents with water.
“I am happy to announce today an agreement with Afghanistan for building the Shahtoot dam which will provide safe drinking water to two million Kabul residents.
He also said India will launch phase four of a high impact community development program in Afghanistan, which includes around 150 projects worth $80 million dollars.
He stated India has invested heavily in peace and development in Afghanistan but said his country calls for an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire.
“We also believe that the peace process must be Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled.”
A feasibility study for the dam was reportedly finalized in 2012 and the estimated cost will be around $236 million.
This dam would also allow for irrigation systems to cover 4,000 hectares of land in the Charasiab and Khairabad districts of Kabul province.
Once complete, officials said the dam will hold 146 million cubic meters of potable water for two million people in Kabul and irrigation water for over 4,000 hectares of land.
India has played a major role in the reconstruction of Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban regime and has invested over $2 billion in various reconstruction and infrastructure projects.
In 2016, Ghani and Indian Prime Minister inaugurated the Indian-funded “Friendship Dam” in Heart Province, which can also irrigate over 80,000 hectares of land and provide electricity to thousands of homes in the western Afghan province of Herat.
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry said Thursday it has signed cooperation agreements with ten institutions to support the development of small and medium-sized enterprises.
Nooruddin Azizi, Acting Minister of Commerce and Industry, said: “In the implementation of projects, we must pay special attention to our activities and actions and try to make useful use of the projects according to the requirements and benefit the beneficiaries.”
These ten institutions are to present their projects, the total value of which is around over $1.1 million. The projects will be carried out in Kabul, Baghlan, Ghor, Herat, Logar, Nangarhar, Balkh, Badakhshan and Jawzjan provinces and provide direct jobs for about 1,000.
To date, the ministry has signed MoUs for 72 projects in total, collectively valued at about $53.6 million.
These agreements have been signed with domestic and foreign companies for the establishment of small and medium-sized businesses.
In accordance with the principles and laws of the Islamic Emirate and prioritizing the implementation of projects for immigrants and returnees and internally displaced people, the ministry said 635,865 people will benefit through jobs directly and over 4.3 million will benefit indirectly in 25 provinces once these projects are implemented.
The National Statistics and Information Authority (NSIA) confirmed Tuesday that in the last month of solar year 1402, (March 2024) Afghanistan’s exports totaled $141.1 million and imports totaled $789.6 million.
This was down from $174 million for exports in the same period in 1401. However, imports increased by $99.2 million in 1402, up from $690.4 million.
Most exports in the last month of 1402 went to Pakistan, India and the United Arab Emirates, while in the last month of 1401 exports went to Pakistan, India and China.
The Ministry of Interior said the governor of Herat province Islam Jar met with Alim Khan Yasin Gildaye, Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Afghanistan, to discuss various issues around trade.
According to the ministry, the two sides discussed the expansion of trade facilities, increasing the volume of trade exchanges between traders of the two countries, reducing customs tariffs, solving the challenges of traders and issuing visas to them.
The Afghanistan-Kazakhstan Chamber of Commerce has been opened in Herat in order to facilitate and increase trade between the two countries.
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