Grant Aid to Afghanistan for Road Sector Programme Grant Aid (Programme for Improvement of Trunk Road from Kandahar toward Herat) and One Other Programme

March 18, 2004

1. The Government of Japan has decided to provide grant aid totaling 10.2 billion yen to the Transitional Administration of Afghanistan for the purpose of contributing to the implementation of the Road Sector Programme Grant Aid (The Programme for Improvement of Trunk Road from Kandahar toward Herat) and the Road Sector Programme Grant Aid (The Programme for Improvement and Construction of Roads in Kandahar and its Environs). The documents regarding this grant aid were exchanged between Ambassador to Afghanistan, Kinichi Komano from the Japanese side and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah on March 18 (Thursday) in Kabul.
   
   (1) Road Sector Programme Grant Aid (The Programme for Improvement of Trunk Road from Kandahar toward Herat)
   Amount granted: 8.4 billion yen
   
   (2) Road Sector Programme Grant Aid (The Programme for Improvement and Construction of Roads in Kandahar and its Environs)
   Amount granted: 1.8 billion yen
   
   
2. In Afghanistan, due to over 20 years of war, the traffic on trunk roads that run across and connect the country has been disrupted, and with prompt development of transportation network as a prerequisite for reconstruction, there is a specific and urgent need for the development of trunk roads in Afghanistan. To this end, the Transitional Administration of Afghanistan has raised development of infrastructure as one of its priority areas and is endeavoring towards the construction of an efficient transportation system. Japan has been carrying forward, as a joint project with the United States, the improvement of roads in Kandahar and its environs in accordance with the agreement with the United States at the Japan-US Summit Meeting in September 2002.
3. This Road Sector Programme Grant Aid is to be provided in response to the strong request from the Transitional Administration of Afghanistan to continue the constructer of the road from Kabul to Kandahar which Japan is currently undertaking. It will provide for expenses for the purchase of materials and equipment necessary for carrying out the Programme for Improvement of Trunk Road from Kandahar toward Herat and the Programme for Improvement and Construction of Roads in Kandahar and its Environs.
4. Japan held the International Conference on Reconstruction Assistance to Afghanistan in January 2002. Since then, the total amount it has provided for the humanitarian and reconstruction assistance for the consolidation of peace in Afghanistan has amounted to approximately US$680 million including the above-mentioned grand aid.