Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS), announces that in their latest meeting with World Bank representatives and contracting companies in Turkey, it was decided that the CASA-1000 project would commence in the month of Saur of the current solar year.
Hekmatullah Miwandi, the spokesperson for the company, adds that the World Bank is ready for the project to begin.
Miwandi stated, "They have agreed to start the project works in the month of Saur, year 1403."
The CASA-1000 project is a crucial power transmission initiative from Central Asia to South Asia.
The project's construction in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Pakistan is nearly complete; however, it has not yet started in Afghanistan, although the World Bank has agreed to begin practical work.
The CASA-1000 project in Afghanistan will pass through 33 districts across the provinces of Kunduz, Panjshir, Baghlan, Kapisa, Kabul, Laghman, and Nangarhar, which will benefit from the electricity once operational.
The project is valued at $1.2 billion, of which $360 million will be spent in Afghanistan, with $260 million already disbursed by the World Bank during the Republic's time.
Mirshakib Mir, an economic expert, said: "The CASA-1000 project will facilitate and transmit electricity from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan through Afghanistan to Pakistan, which is experiencing an energy crisis, and the World Bank has taken on the responsibility of financing this project."
Several economic experts believe that the World Bank, alongside the CASA-1000, supported various other projects because they consider the resumption of World Bank activities influential in the country’s economic growth.
Abdul Nasir Reshtia, an economic expert, stated: "Before the political change in Afghanistan, the World Bank was financing about 7,500 projects in Afghanistan, employing over one hundred thousand Afghans. Therefore, I think if the World Bank reactivates these projects, the major problem today that the government and the people of Afghanistan face, unemployment and poverty, could be alleviated by employing a large number of Afghans in these projects."
The CASA-1000 project was conceptualized in 2008 and contracts were signed among the participating countries in 2018; however, practical implementation in Afghanistan has not commenced since the re-establishment of the Islamic Emirate.
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