Islamabad | Tuesday
THE World Bank has estimated that $15-billion will be needed over the next 10 years for the reconstruction of Afghanistan, a report said on Tuesday.
Acting head of the World Bank, Abid Hassan, told a conference in Islamabad on Monday that health, agriculture and education sectors were the most important investment areas.
”Afghans will need around one billion to two billion dollars in a year which translates into 10 to 15 billion dollars in the next 10 years for the provision of putting in place basic infrastructure,” Hassan said, quoted by The Nation daily.
Between $100 and $140-million will be needed to build hospitals while $50-100-million will have to be pumped into water supply projects, he said.
The primary education sector will require a $60-80-million injection of funds, while the power sector needs $40-50-million, Hassan added.
However, Antonnio Donini, head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for Afghanistan, said any infrastructure reconstruction would not commence for another three months while an assessment survey was underway.
He also cautioned that the successful implementation of a rebuilding programme depended on the country’s political stability and the security situation.
”The long term process cannot be delinked from issues of governance and political dispensation in Afghanistan,” he was quoted as saying.
A donor’s conference on reconstructing the country torn apart by more than two decades of war is to be held in Japan from January 21-22.
Japan has taken a leading role in international efforts to rebuild the country and in preparation for the talks Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s representative for Afghanistan assistance, Sadako Ogata, left on Monday for a 10-day trip to Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran. – Sapa-AFP