Business
World Bank works to redirect frozen funds for humanitarian aid only
The World Bank is finalizing a proposal to deliver up to $500 million from a frozen Afghanistan aid fund to humanitarian agencies, people familiar with the plans told Reuters, but it leaves out tens of thousands of public sector workers and remains complicated by U.S. sanctions.
Board members will meet informally on Tuesday to discuss the proposal, hammered out in recent weeks with U.S. and U.N. officials, to redirect the funds from the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF), which has a total of $1.5 billion, Reuters reported.
Afghanistan’s 39 million people face a collapsing economy, a winter of food shortages and growing poverty three months after the the former government collapsed.
Afghan experts said the aid will help, but big gaps remain, including how to get the funds into Afghanistan without exposing the financial institutions involved to U.S. sanctions, and the lack of focus on state workers, the sources said.
The money will go mainly to addressing urgent health care needs in Afghanistan, where less than 7% of the population has been vaccinated against the coronavirus, they said.
For now, it will not cover salaries for teachers and other government workers, a policy that the experts say could hasten the collapse of Afghanistan’s public education, healthcare and social services systems.
They warn that hundreds of thousands of workers, who have been unpaid for months, could stop showing up for their jobs and join a massive exodus from the country.
The World Bank will have no oversight of the funds once transferred into Afghanistan, said one of the sources familiar with the plans. A U.S. official stressed that UNICEF and other recipient agencies would have “their own controls and policies in place.”
“The proposal calls for the World Bank to transfer the money to the U.N. and other humanitarian agencies, without any oversight or reporting, but it says nothing about the financial sector, or how the money will get into the country,” the source said, calling U.S. sanctions a major constraint.
While the U.S. Treasury has provided “comfort letters” assuring banks that they can process humanitarian transactions, concern about sanctions continues to prevent passage of even basic supplies, including food and medicine, the source added.
“We’re driving the country into the dust,” said the source. Crippling sanctions and failure to take care of public sector workers will “create more refugees, more desperation and more extremism.”
A State Department spokesperson confirmed that Washington is working with the World Bank and other donors on how to use the funds, including potentially paying those who work in “critical positions such as healthcare workers and teachers.”
The spokesperson said the U.S. government remains committed to meeting the critical needs of the Afghan people, “especially across health, nutrition, education, and food security sectors … but international aid is not a silver bullet.”
Established in 2002 and administered by the World Bank, the ARTF was the largest financing source for Afghanistan’s civilian budget, which was more than 70% funded by foreign aid.
The World Bank suspended disbursements after the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) takeover. At the same time, Washington stopped supplying U.S. dollars to the country and joined in freezing some $9 billion in Afghan central bank assets and halting financial assistance.
One major problem is the lack of a mechanism to monitor disbursements of funds in Afghanistan to ensure Taliban leaders and fighters do not access them, a third source said.
Ariana Afghan Airlines has increased cargo flights between Kabul and Delhi to facilitate the transportation of commercial goods and support Afghan traders.
In a statement issued Saturday, the airline said it will now operate two scheduled cargo flights daily on the Kabul-Delhi route, up from one flight per day previously.
The airline said Afghan traders and commercial companies can use the daily cargo services to transport their goods quickly, safely and reliably between Afghanistan and India.
Ariana Afghan Airlines said it is working to further expand and improve its air cargo services to support trade, meet the needs of Afghan traders and facilitate Afghanistan’s exports and imports.
Business
Afghanistan, Turkmenistan agree to establish joint road transport commission
The sides also agreed to establish a joint commission to address road transport issues and improve coordination.
Afghanistan and Turkmenistan have agreed to establish a joint commission on road transport and facilitate transit between the two countries following two days of talks in Herat.
Afghanistan’s Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation said the meeting brought together technical delegations from both countries to strengthen bilateral transport and transit cooperation.
The talks focused on easing visa procedures for Afghan and Turkmen drivers and traders, operationalising the Lapis Lazuli transit corridor and increasing the movement of transit vehicles between the two countries.
The sides also agreed to establish a joint commission to address road transport issues and improve coordination.
Representatives from Afghanistan’s ministries of foreign affairs, industry and commerce and the railway authority attended the talks, alongside the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation. Railway links, bilateral trade and wider transit cooperation were also discussed, with private-sector representatives expected to participate in future discussions.
The agreement comes as Turkmenistan works to strengthen its role as a regional transport and logistics hub, using its road, rail and Caspian Sea infrastructure to connect Central Asia with markets to the west and south.
A key part of that network is the International Seaport of Turkmenbashi, which links Turkmenistan with Azerbaijan and onward routes towards the South Caucasus and Europe.
Turkmenistan’s transport infrastructure also forms part of the wider Middle Corridor, or Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, connecting China and Central Asia with Azerbaijan, Georgia and Türkiye before reaching European markets.
For Afghanistan, the Lapis Lazuli Corridor is particularly important. It connects Afghanistan through Turkmenistan and across the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan, Georgia and Türkiye, providing a potential route towards European markets.
Rail links such as the Herat-Torghundi line could further connect Afghanistan’s markets with Turkmenistan’s wider transport network.
The latest agreement puts road transport and transit facilitation at the centre of efforts by the two neighbours to expand trade and strengthen regional connectivity.
Business
TAPI gas deliveries to Afghanistan and Pakistan expected to begin in 2027
Turkmenistan regards TAPI as a key project for diversifying its gas exports and strengthening regional economic cooperation.
Turkmenistan expects natural gas supplies to Afghanistan and Pakistan through the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline to begin in 2027, according to the Turkmen Embassy in Islamabad.
Turkmen Ambassador Atajan Movlamov said construction of the strategically important Serhetabat-Herat section of the pipeline is expected to be completed by the end of this year.
Movlamov made the remarks during an Ambassadors’ Dinner hosted by the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Islamabad.
He said the implementation of TAPI and other regional energy projects could strengthen Pakistan’s energy security while creating new opportunities for industrial development and economic growth.
The planned 1,800-kilometre pipeline is designed to transport up to 33 billion cubic metres of natural gas annually from Turkmenistan’s giant Galkynysh gas field through Afghanistan to Pakistan and India.
Turkmenistan regards TAPI as a key project for diversifying its gas exports and strengthening regional economic cooperation.
The Galkynysh field, which is the main resource base for TAPI, is among the world’s largest gas fields, with estimated reserves of more than 27 trillion cubic metres.
The project has faced years of delays, but recent construction and developments in the regional energy sector have renewed attention to TAPI as a potential link between Central Asian gas resources and South Asian energy markets.
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