Finance Minister Omar Zakhilwal and Italian Ambassador Claudio Glaentzer signed a bilateral agreement in the presence of Minister Frattini’s Special Envoy for Afghanistan-Pakistan Ambassador Iannucci on the financing of a microcredit fund in the provinces of Herat, Farah, Baghdis.
The fund, managed by the independent Micro Finance Investment Support Facility for Afghanistan(MISFA) will grant microcredit loans to tens of thousands of families and small businesses in an effort to develop the local economy through the weaker segments of the population.
Those provinces are part of an area under Italian responsibility. The Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) operating in Herat is under Italian military and civilian guidance, and the Embassy in Kabul and the Italian Cooperation have arranged for the reinforcement of the Cooperation there in order to promote and monitor the broad range of activities funded with over 53 million euro specifically reserved for the provinces of Herat, Farah and Baghdis. Particular attention is going to agricultural development, governance and institution building.
“The fight against terrorism and the country’s stabilisation are long-term commitments to humanitarian and economic aid. Many insurgents would leave the fighting if they had a job”, Ambassador Iannucci said to the international press, and who met in recent days with Governor of Herat Nuristani. Microcredit is one of the most successful areas, Afghan Finance Minister Zahilwal added, especially for encouraging women-run small businesses. The Italian project offers this opportunity to the provinces of Farah and Baghdis for the first time, which are currently without such services.
Since 2001 Italy has earmarked 466 million euro for cooperation activities in Afghanistan, to initiatives in the healthcare, justice and infrastructure sectors.
Kabul, 27 October 2009