Chinese investment sought in New Kabul City project

KABUL (Pajhwok): Acting Minister of Housing and Urban Development Sheikh Hamdullah Nomani has asked China’s ambassador to encourage Chinese businesspeople to invest in the New Kabul City Project.

The New Kabul City project is spread over the entire Deh Sabz district and includes some areas of Shakar Dara, Istalif, Qarabagh, Kalkan and Bagram districts.

Construction work on the first phase of the residential scheme, bigger than the existing city, has been started at a cost of one billion US dollars.

The first phase of the scheme, covering 370 acres of land, will have 2,300 residential houses.

Nomani issued the call at a meeting with Chinese Ambassador Zhao Xing here on Monday, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (MoHUD) said in a statement.

Nomani appreciated the ambassador for his China’s humanitarian aid to Afghanistan. He briefed the envoy on the construction work on Chinese-funded Nilabagh project.

He also asked the Chinese ambassador to encourage entrepreneurs from his country to invest in the New Kabul City project

The acting minister assured the protection of Chinese workers in Afghanistan and called security a priority of the caretaker government.

For his part, Zhao Xing said work on the Nilabagh project would be accelerated and the scheme executed on time.

He hoped after receiving information about the New Kabul City project, Chinese businesspeople would invest in the mega scheme.

Both sides also agreed on implementation of development schemes in Afghanistan.

The Nilabagh residential township is being constructed on 21 hectares of land in the Darul Aman area of the capital.

A contract for its first phase was signed between the previous government and the Chinese firm MCC on September 19, 2020. However, work on the scheme was delayed.

The scheme, including 1,400 residential apartments across 56 blocks, would take three years to complete.

kk/mud

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