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World Bank proposal would shift $600 million from Afghan trust

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(Last Updated On: February 19, 2022)

The World Bank’s management has signed off on a proposal that would repurpose $600 million of the just over $1 billion left in a frozen trust fund to benefit Afghan education, families and communities, a source familiar with the plan told Reuters.

The board of the World Bank is due to discuss the proposal on March 1, with a final decision on disbursement of the funds left up to the donors of Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF), which is administered by the bank, the source said.

The funds would be disbursed by various United Nations agencies, including UNICEF and the Food and Agriculture Organization, amid escalating concerns about the collapsing Afghan economy, the source told Reuters.

Donors to the trust fund in December approved the transfer of $280 million from the trust to the World Food Program and UNICEF to support nutrition and health in Afghanistan.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the U.N. Security Council last month to free up the remaining $1.2 billion in the fund to help Afghanistan’s people survive the winter.

The fresh funds will help support food security, health and education programs in Afghanistan as it sinks into a severe economic and humanitarian crisis. The crisis accelerated in August when the former government collapsed and the last U.S. and allied troops withdrew.

The United States and other donors cut off the financial aid that had kept Afghanistan running during 20 years of war after the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) takeover.

The United Nations is warning that nearly 23 million people – about 55% of the population – are facing extreme levels of hunger, with nearly 9 million at risk of famine as winter takes hold in the impoverished country.

The United States last week announced plans to free up half of the $7 billion in frozen Afghan central bank assets on U.S. soil to help the Afghan people while holding the rest to possibly satisfy terrorism-related lawsuits against the IEA, the White House said on Friday.

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Acting commerce minister heads to Russia to attend Kazan Forum

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(Last Updated On: May 14, 2024)

Nooruddin Azizi, Acting Minister of Industry and Commerce, headed to Russia to participate in an international economic meeting in Kazan, Tatarstan.

The aim of the Russia-Islamic World: KazanForum 2024, the 15th edition of the forum, is to offer a platform for leading international economic and financial specialists from the Islamic world to strengthen ties between the countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the regions of the Russian Federation in the economic, educational, social and cultural spheres, Anadolu Agency reported.

The Ministry of Industry and Commerce said that Azizi, leading a high-level delegation of the Islamic Emriate, traveled to Tatarstan at the invitation of Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov.

The forum is held between May 14 and 19.

The forum also aims to promote the development of Islamic financial institutions in Russia and worldwide, with a focus on joint international projects and programs, according to Anadolu Agency.

More than 80 nations are expected to participate in the event, including representatives of the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Malaysia, Türkiye, Iran, Libya, and other OIC member states.

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Afghanistan can become important industrial center in region: Hanafi

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(Last Updated On: May 13, 2024)

Deputy Prime Minister for Administrative Affairs Abdul Salam Hanafi says Afghanistan has the potential to become one of the most important industrial centers in the region.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the national and international expo on the occasion of Industry Week, Hanafi said that the growth of industry lays the foundation for the growth of other economic sectors and that the Islamic Emirate fully supports domestic production in the country.

“Afghanistan has important and rich factors for industrial production, which can become one of the important industrial centers in the region. The growth of industry will be the basis for the growth of other economic sectors, especially agriculture,” said Hanafi.

Acting Minister of Industry and Commerce, Nooruddin Azizi, added that the IEA has programs in the fields of industry development and support for the private sector that will make Afghanistan self-sufficient.

Azizi stated that Afghanistan’s industrial sector is currently progressing and the quality of export goods has also improved.

Some investors said at the ceremony that after the return of the IEA, the country’s exports have increased and the number of manufacturing companies has also increased.

This expo is open to visitors for seven days, and industrial products are showcased in 450 booths.
Women in business also attended the meeting.

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Afghanistan, Pakistan agree on new travel mechanism for truckers

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(Last Updated On: May 12, 2024)

Afghanistan and Pakistan have agreed on the issuance of a temporary admission document for transporters of commercial goods, Afghanistan’s Ministry of Transport and Aviation announced on Sunday.

The ministry said in an announcement that truck drivers and their assistants carrying commercial goods from Afghanistan and Pakistan must have this document with them at the crossings.

Based on the announcement, the document will be issued to Afghans at the Pakistani embassy in Kabul and its consulate in Kandahar.

For Pakistanis, the document is distributed at the office of the Afghanistan transport attaché in Peshawar and Quetta.

The Ministry of Transportation and Aviation asked owners and drivers of trucks to submit the required documents to their respective transportation companies by June 1.

The ministry warned that after June 1, trucks cannot travel between the two countries without having the temporary admission document.

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