By NNN-KUNA,
Paris : Kuwait has pledged a “highly concessional” loan for USD 30 million to help finance Afghanistan’s National Development Strategy which is destined to improve the economy, governance and security in that country over the next five years.
Kuwait was represented by senior officials from the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED), including Deputy Director-General Hisham Al Wqayan and Regional Director for Central Asia and Europe, Waleed Al-Bahar.
Kuwait was among 84 delegations attending the one-day event which Afghanistan called to be organised to try to raise USD 50 billion for the next five years, a target all agree will not be reached.
But Afghan President Hamid Karzai hopes he can raise close to USD 20 billion here Thursday for the next two to three years and even secure ongoing pledges beyond that.
The Kuwaiti delegation underlined at the conference that it had established economic cooperation dating back to 1977 when a sugar project was jointly developed in Afghanistan. Kuwait has been involved in a number of other projects in Afghanistan since then.
The loan from Kuwait is on “highly concessional terms, and the details will now be discussed with the Afghan authorities,” the KFAED deputy director-general said here.