Monday, April 24, 2017
Kabul (BNA) The Government of Japan decided to provide JPY 400 million (equivalent to over $3.6 million) for the Economic and Social Development Program in Afghanistan, Japanese embassy said in a statement on Sunday.
According to the statement, the exchange of note for this program signed yesterday between Mitsuji Suzuka, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Afghanistan and Mr. Hekmat Kahlil Karzai, Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.
This contribution from the Government of Japan will enable the Government of Afghanistan to purchase the necessary items, such as fuels and other materials in order to enhance the economic and social development process in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan on regular bases. These items will be sold by the Government of Afghanistan at the satisfactory price to the domestic market, the statement added.
This unique scheme requests the Government of Afghanistan to save a certain portion of the revenue in “Counterpart Fund Account” and it will utilized for development projects under the close consultation with the Embassy of Japan in Afghanistan.
In this occasion, Hekmat Kahlil Karzai thanked and appreciated the generous support of Japan to the Government and the people of Afghanistan and said:
Japan has provided support to Afghanistan in the sector of Police Reform, Counter Narcotics, Education, police training, DDR, Demining, assistance to refugees and internal displaced people, social development, vocational training, agriculture, rural development, protection and maintenance of ancient heritage of Bamyan province are the other important sectors that Japan has contributed through UNESCO with the cooperation of Tokyo National Research and Cultural Institute.
Mitsuji Suzuka, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Afghanistan said: “As friend of Afghanistan, we hope sincerely for the self- reliance and development of Afghanistan. It is important that we continue keeping a friendly relationship. We hope this Program is appropriately used effectively through human resources development, humanitarian assistance, infrastructure and technical cooperation for economic aid and further development in Afghanistan.”
Japan has been assisting Afghanistan’s nation- building efforts in various fields ranging from security to economic and social development sectors including, health, agriculture, infrastructure, rural development and human capacity development. The cumulative Japanese assistance to Afghanistan since 2001 amounts to $6.4 billion.
