Afghanistan Eyes $50 Billion In Aid For National Development Plan
April 21, 2008
KABUL (AFP)–Afghanistan hopes a June donors’ meeting in Paris will secure $50 billion in aid to implement a five-year development plan, Finance Minister Anwar-ul haq Ahadi said Monday.
The plan, called the National Development Strategy, or ANDS, was presented to donors at an “aid effectiveness” conference here.
Based on a year of wide-ranging consultations, it will be assessed by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, Ahadi told reporters after the meeting.
The finalized strategy would become the basis of requests from donors at the June conference, he said.
“For this strategy, the Afghan government has asked the world for $50 billion in aid for five years,” he said.
The ANDS was a comprehensive plan, the minister said. “All walks of government are included: security, good governance, financial growth, important issues such as counternarcotics, capacity building, equal rights of women …”
One of the biggest projects in the strategy was for the production of electricity, which reaches only about 10% of Afghans.
There were also plans to build thousands of miles of roads as well as more dams and irrigation systems, the minister said.
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