The development objective of the New Market Development Project is to help in the revitalization of private sector activities in the four major urban cities of Kabul, Mazar-e-Sharif, Jalalabad and Herat through provision of business development technical assistance to support private firms' initiatives to gain market knowledge, improve product quality and processing technologies, and increase their presence in both domestic and export markets. This project paper seeks the approval of the Executive Directors to provide an International Development Association (IDA) grant in an amount of SDR 14 million (US$22 million equivalent) to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan for an Afghanistan New Market Development Project (ANMDP). Additional resources will be sought to scale up the project if the pilot is successful in achieving its development objectives. The overall project will be managed by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) through a Kabul based project management unit (PMU) together with MoCI staff in each of the pilot cities by each provincial office. The utilization of the provincial offices is important as it sends a strong signal that the Government is serious about empowering cities to develop their economies, and harness these local energies.
The first Italian who registered his individual company in Afghanistan