Business & Economy

Taliban sign pact with UAE firm to manage Afghan airports

Kabul, May 24 (EFE).- The Taliban Tuesday said it signed an agreement with an Emirati aviation consortium to manage three airports in Afghanistan, marking a major foreign investment deal in the crisis-ridden country after the fall of the Western-backed government in Kabul last year.

As per the agreement, the Abu Dhabi-based firm GAAC Solutions would manage the Herat, Kabul, and Kandahar airports, Deputy government spokesperson Inamullah Samangani told EFE.

The spokesperson said the UAE-based firm would provide ground handling services at the three airports.

The signing of the agreement took place in Kabul in the presence of the Afghan Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Ghani Baradar, Transport and Civil Aviation Minister Hamidullah Akhundzada, and the GAAC general director.

Baradar emphasized that the country was more secure than previously and the Taliban government was ready to cooperate with investor countries in Afghanistan.

He said the Afghan government wanted good relations with all countries and invited global investors to invest in Afghanistan with an assurance of “all facilities and security.”

“Afghanistan has been affected by wars and now we are rebuilding it,” Baradar said during the inking ceremony.

The Islamist regime hoped that international flights would resume soon in the country “in a safe and reliable environment” that would boost “trade with other countries,” Taliban spokesman Bilal Karimi tweeted.

Airlines suspened international operations at the Kabul international airport since Aug.15, 2021, when the Taliban took control of Afghanistan.

Even as the Taliban government has assured that the country was safe since they came to power, few countries and foreign companies have shown any interest in investing in Afghanistan, mainly because the Islamist government is yet to get international recognition. EFE lk-ssk

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