12 March 2003
World Bank Helps Afghanistan Revitalize Transportation Networks
($108 million credit for highways, civil aviation is approved) (1350)
The World Bank on March 11 announced that it had approved $108 million
in credit to help rehabilitate Afghanistan's highway and civil
aviation programs. The Emergency Transport Rehabilitation Project is
designed to help the Afghan government meet emergency needs in the
short term, while building its capacity to maintain programs in the
long term.
The project will focus on rehabilitation of the Kabul to
Pol-e-Khomri-Kunduz highway, including work on the Salang tunnel -- a
vital transportation link. The road from Kabul through the Salang pass
to Pol-e-Khomri connects Kabul and provinces in the south with eight
northern provinces. The project will also finance reconstruction of
the runway at Kabul's international airport, provision of related
equipment to support safe air travel, and upgrading of the airport's
water and sanitation systems.
Since April 2002, the World Bank has approved $100 million in grants
for Afghan development projects. This $108 million credit, which
carries no interest, is the first loan to be provided to Afghanistan
by the World Bank's International Development Association (IDA) since
1979.
"The Government of Afghanistan has articulated its own development
vision, and our strategy has been developed to support and underpin
that," said Alastair McKechnie, World Bank Country Director for
Afghanistan. "Indeed, it has been exciting to work with a government
that has such a clear view of how the international community can
serve a truly Afghan vision. Of course, there are huge challenges in
building the capacity to deliver on this, but Afghanistan is already a
step ahead by virtue of truly driving its own path forward."
Following is the text of the World Bank's March 11 announcement.
(begin text)
WORLD BANK TO HELP AFGHANISTAN REVITALIZE HIGHWAY AND AVIATION
NETWORKS
WASHINGTON, March 11, 2003 -- The World Bank today approved a US$108
million
credit to help remove key transport bottlenecks on an emergency basis,
and also
support the Government of Afghanistan's efforts to rehabilitate its
highway and
civil aviation programs. The work will improve physical access to
goods,
markets, and administrative and social services, all critical to
Afghanistan's
economic and social recovery.
The Bank also discussed an overall strategy to support Afghanistan's
transition
over the next two years from an emergency orientation to one focused
on
longer-term development.
"The Government of Afghanistan has articulated its own development
vision, and
our strategy has been developed to support and underpin that," said
Alastair
McKechnie, World Bank Country Director for Afghanistan. "Indeed, it
has been
exciting to work with a government that has such a clear view of how
the
international community can serve a truly Afghan vision. Of course,
there are
huge challenges in building the capacity to deliver on this, but
Afghanistan is
already a step ahead by virtue of truly driving its own path forward."
More than two decades of conflict combined with a prolonged lack of
maintenance
has resulted in severe damage to long sections of roads and critical
structures
such as runways, bridges, tunnels, and retaining walls in Afghanistan.
Deterioration of air traffic control equipment and a shortage of
qualified
operators has reduced the safety and availability of flights,
Afghanistan's most
practical means for long-range domestic as well as international
travel.
The Emergency Transport Rehabilitation Project is designed to help the
government meet emergency needs in the short term, while building its
capacity
to maintain programs in the long term. It will remove key transport
bottlenecks,
such as collapsed bridges, eroded road sections, disintegrated
pavements,
damaged tunnels, and unsafe air traffic operation that are seriously
hampering
Afghanistan's recovery. An element of the project design is to
facilitate the
employment of local people in the various rehabilitation activities.
The project
will also provide equipment and technical assistance related to
planning,
maintenance, and supervision to help build the government's capacity
for
managing subsequent work. An overarching project goal is to assist the
government's efforts in establishing an institutional and policy
framework to
make Afghanistan's transport sector viable and sustainable into the
future.
"Solving Afghanistan's transport problems is absolutely essential to
both
short-term recovery and long-term development, two areas on which the
government
has rightly asked international donors to focus equally," said Terje
Wolden, a
World Bank senior transport specialist and task leader of the project.
"Removing
the bottlenecks will help the country to promote regional economic
integration
and facilitate trade, improve delivery of humanitarian aid, and assist
reconstruction efforts in all sectors. Providing technical advice will
help the
government carry on this work after the donors leave."
In the area of land transport, the project will focus on
rehabilitation of the
Kabul to Pol-e-Khomri-Kunduz highway, including work on the Salang
tunnel. The
road from Kabul through the Salang pass to Pol-I Khumri covers a
critical
section of the highway that connects the city of Kabul and provinces
to the
south, with eight provinces to the north, and connects the country of
Afghanistan to both Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. The project will also
cover other
main roads in the north such as the road to Faizabad from Kunduz. In
aviation,
the project will finance reconstruction of the runway at Kabul's
international
airport, provision of related equipment to support safe air travel,
and
upgrading of the water and sanitation system of the airport. It will
also
support mine clearance activities in all project coverage areas.
The Afghan Assistance Coordination Authority (AACA) will coordinate
and
facilitate procurement for the project, which will be implemented by
the
Ministry of Public Works and Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism.
Since April 2002, and as Afghanistan's emergence from conflict made
way for
reconstruction, the World Bank has approved US$100 million in grants
for various
development projects. Today's credit, which carries no interest, is
the first
loan to be provided by the World Bank's International Development
Association
(IDA) since 1979, when Afghanistan went into arrears after
discontinuing
payments on its loans. Afghanistan was able to clear its arrears, in
part, with
the help of Japan, the UK, Sweden, Norway, and Italy, who contributed
to a trust
fund for this purpose. Additional funds from the multi-donor
Afghanistan
Reconstruction Trust Fund helped to clear the remaining arrears,
allowing
Afghanistan to become eligible for loans for projects which move
beyond the
emergency situation to help meet its longer-term development needs.
The Bank's plan for assisting Afghanistan to meet these needs is
spelled out in
a Transitional Support Strategy, discussed today, which covers the
period from
the next 18 months to two years, until the country adopts a new
constitution and
establishes a representative government. The strategy was designed to
directly
support the Government of Afghanistan's National Development Framework
and
focuses on four key areas: improving livelihoods; assisting the
government with
its fiscal strategy, institutions, and management; supporting
governance and
public administration reform; and helping to enable private sector
development
in Afghanistan. Priorities were made taking into account the World
Bank's
comparative advantage and the interest of other international donors
in specific
areas of reform.
Specifically, the World Bank is preparing projects which would help
the
government reconstruct and develop Afghanistan's health sector and
revive the
banking sector, including reforming public and commercial banks and
Afghanistan's Central Bank. The World Bank is also preparing follow-on
projects
in areas in which it is currently working, such as public
administration and
labor intensive public works.
The strategy follows a previous World Bank transitional support
strategy
approved in April 2002, which outlined assistance during the early
post-conflict
months, when the main focus in the country was on providing emergency
relief,
securing peace, and working for political normalization.
Note: The IDA credit for the Emergency Transport Rehabilitation
Project carries
a 0.75 % service charge and has a 40-year maturity, with a 10-year
grace period.
(For more information on the World Bank's activities in Afghanistan,
please visit: http://www.worldbank.org/af)
(For more information on the Emergency Transportation Rehabilitation
Project,
please visit:
http://www4.worldbank.org/sprojects/Project.asp?pid=P078284)
(For more information on the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund,
please visit:
http://www.worldbank.org/artf)
(end text)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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