Speeches Shim
Today, the Afghanistan Government signed agreements with Independent Power Producers to support four renewable energy projects to increase access to reliable and affordable electricity for Afghans. The signing event was hosted by the President of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani.
The United States government, through the U.S. State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), has allocated more than $36.7 million to help the people of Afghanistan address the COVID-19 pandemic, and expedited $90 million in continued development assistance through the World Bank to support Afghanistan’s national health and education sectors and local government needs.
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has concluded a ten-year program aimed at improving livelihoods for Afghan farmers and boosting high-value fruit and nut exports. The USAID Commercial Horticulture and Agricultural Marketing Program (CHAMP) was launched in 2010 at a time when Afghan farmers were struggling after decades of conflict. Afghanistan's fruit and nut exports were minimal and many Afghan agribusinesses lacked the basic skills and business linkages to reach international buyers.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), in partnership with Harakat Afghanistan Investment Climate Facility Organization, launched two interventions to improve the efficiency of the movement of goods at Afghanistan’s Torkham and Spin Boldak border posts with Pakistan. The joint effort will expedite the safe transit of cargo trucks, which declined from an average of 150 per day before COVID-19 to 100 per week. USAID and Harakat will revamp disinfection of vehicles and cargo at the two border posts before cargo is transferred from the Pakistan side of the border. The project also involves the establishment of a trans-shipment facility for containerized cargo at the Torkham border.
Twenty-six exporters of Afghanistan’s finest fruits, nuts, juices, saffron, and spices are showcasing their products for international buyers at the world’s largest annual food and hospitality trade show—Gulfood Expo Dubai—from February 16 to 20. For the 10th consecutive year, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is supporting the participation of Afghan agribusinesses.
The Asia Foundation-Afghanistan, with the support of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), launched the 15th annual Survey of the Afghan People (the Survey). First launched in 2004, this year the Survey gathered the opinions of more than 129,800 Afghans across the country on elections, corruption, security, women’s rights, service delivery, the economy, migration, and peace and reconciliation. It is the broadest and longest-running nationwide survey of Afghan attitudes and opinions.
A total of 150 young Afghan women celebrated their graduation today from USAID’s Women in Commercial Banking (WICB) program during an official ceremony attended by the Executive Directors of the Afghanistan Banks Association, the Microfinance Investment Support Facility for Afghanistan, the Afghanistan Microfinance Association, and representatives from private banks, microfinance institutions, insurance companies and other stakeholders.
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) sponsored the first Afghanistan National Young Innovators in Agriculture Competition, an activity aimed at engaging Afghan students in tackling the problem of post-harvest loss in high value crops. In Afghanistan, farmers lose more than a third of their harvest before it reaches the consumer.
The 2019 “Passage to Prosperity: India – Afghanistan International Trade and Investment Show,” supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), saw Afghan firms sign deals and pre-contract agreements valued at over $55 million. In particular, the exhibition yielded benefits for the agricultural sector, which generated $46 million in new business. Non-agricultural sectors signed more than 30 pre-contract agreements valued at approximately $9.8 million.
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