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Islamic Republic of Afghanistan - Enhanced Integrated Framework ...

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tutions providing services to almost200,000 active clients in 27 provinces.• State owned enterprises are being privatized,corporatized or liquidated.• A lively free and privately owned mediahave developed and over which people areable to express political views freely –which they do daily.• The legal and commercial infrastructure isbeing put in place for a market orientedeconomy.• Electricity capacity has almost doubledcompared to 2002.• Over 12,000 kilometers <strong>of</strong> roads have beenrehabilitated, improved, or built. This includesthe ring road system, national highways,provincial roads and rural roads.• Kabul International Airport has been expandedand extensively rehabilitated.• Private airlines have entered the aviationsector and established air links throughoutthe region.• A key bridge investment has opened updirect road links to Tajikistan and greatlyreduced transportation times through toUrumqi in China, one <strong>of</strong> the fastest growingtrade hubs in the world.• Two million urban residents have benefitedfrom investments in water supply and 12percent from investment in sanitation inmajor cities between 2002 and 2007.• About 35,000 water points 59 networks and1,713 water reservoirs and 23,884 demonstrationlatrines have been constructed.• More than three million people have benefiteddirectly from the rural water supplyand sanitation activities in the country.• Around a third <strong>of</strong> the provinces reportedsome improvement in access to cleandrinking water during the consultativeprocess under the ANDS.• Irrigation Rehabilitation has been givenhigh priority over the past four or fiveyears. Of some 2,100 rehabilitation projects,approximately 1,200 have been completedand have been placed back intocommercial service.• Major advances have been made in openingup the telecommunications sector toprivate sector investment under a ‘investmentfriendly’ regulatory frameworkaimed at maintaining a competitive marketfor services, and phone subscribers haveincreased from less than 20 thousand tomore than 5 million in less than 6 years.• A rapid urbanization process has seen theurban population increase to almost aquarter <strong>of</strong> the total population. Despite thepressures implied by rapid urbanization,two million urban residents (31 percent <strong>of</strong>the total urban population) have benefitedfrom investments in water supply and 12percent from investment in sanitation inmajor cities between 2002 and 2007.• <strong>Afghanistan</strong> has world class mineral depositsthat are being opened up for explorationand development. The first majorinvestment has recently been announcedfor developing the Aynak copper depositsin central Logar province, an almost $3 billioninvestment after an extensive evaluation<strong>of</strong> tenders from nine major internationalmining companies.When seen against the desperate conditionsthat prevailed in the country in 2001, theseachievements constitute an impressive record.The ANDS sets goals for the next five years thatwill require even greater achievements.AFGHANISTAN’SCHALLENGESFew countries have simultaneously faced therange and extent <strong>of</strong> challenges with which thepeople and Government <strong>of</strong> <strong>Afghanistan</strong> mustnow contend. After nearly three decades <strong>of</strong>continuous conflict the country emerged in late2001 as a truly devastated state with its human,physical and institutional infrastructure destroyedor severely damaged. At that time theUN Human Development Report ranked <strong>Afghanistan</strong>as the second poorest country in theWorld. In addition to the widespread poverty,the Government must deal with continuingthreats to security from extremists and terrorists,weak capacity <strong>of</strong> governance and corruption;a poor environment for private sector investment,the corrosive effects <strong>of</strong> a large andgrowing narcotics industry; and major humanIntroduction 3

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