WB pledges $22m to support Afghan private sector

KABUL Bank on Sunday pledged providing the Afghan Ministry of Commerce and Industry $22 million to support the private sector and build the ministry’s capacity, a cabinet minister said.

A contract to the effect was signed between Finance Minister Hazrat Omar Zakhilwal and Nicholas J. Krafft, the World Bank’s new country director for Afghanistan, in Kabul.

After signing the contract, Zakhiwal thanked the bank, saying the amount would be spent under a plan by the commerce ministry over next four years.

The commerce and industry minister, Dr. Anwarl Haq Ahadi, who was also present on the occasion, said that $4.1 would be spent on his ministry’s capacity building and the rest would be used to develop 750 private sector organisations in Kabul, Herat, Balkh and Nangarhar provinces.

The private firms would be provided technical support to find market for their goods, he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Krafft called the role of private sector in Afghanistan’s development as crucial.

He said the assistance would be used to provide technical support to private firms in order to increase their production and find market for their goods.

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