ADB’s Board of Directors has approved the creation of the Afghanistan Infrastructure Trust Fund, with ADB as its manager. It will provide an opportunity to bilateral, multilateral, and individual contributors to partner with ADB in financing infrastructure investments such as roads, railways, airports, energy facilities, irrigation systems, and improve the livelihood of the Afghan people.

“The objective is to pool resources and to leverage cofinancing support from the private sector and other development partners,” said Juan Miranda, Director General of ADB’s Central and West Asia Department.

Afghanistan’s infrastructure requirements are estimated at US$4 billion over the next 3 years—far more than the government or any single agency funding agency can provide. Among key areas of need are stronger transport links, energy security, partnerships for the development of mineral resources, and support for private sector development. At the Kabul International Conference on Afghanistan in July this year, the international community called on ADB, as the country’s lead development partner in the infrastructure sector, to set up a dedicated fund.

The Government of Afghanistan’s Minister of Finance, Dr. Omar Zakhilwal, said: “The ADB is renewing its enduring commitment to Afghanistan by establishing the Afghanistan Infrastructure Trust Fund, which will serve to fund the next generation of key infrastructure projects throughout the country.

As a representative of the Afghan government and people, I want to express my thanks to the ADB for its new efforts to organize financing to accelerate economic growth and strengthen the welfare of all Afghans.”

The fund will provide grant cofinancing alongside ADB-funded infrastructure projects, with resources supplementing those provided by ADB through its own operational budget. The Afghan Ministry of Finance and ADB will work together to ensure that the Afghanistan Infrastructure Trust Fund is efficiently utilized to support the highest priority infrastructure projects and leverage additional financing from the private sector and other partners. The trust fund will also rely on ADB’s operational and project management expertise to enable the Government of Afghanistan to implement the country’s key infrastructure development plans. All fund project proposals will be screened, processed by ADB in accordance with its own policies, including on procurement, social and environmental safeguards, and financial management.

ADB is Afghanistan’s fourth largest development partner overall with assistance of nearly US$2.2 billion between 2002 and 2009.

ADB, based in Manila, is dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration. Established in 1966, it is owned by 67 members—48 from the region. In 2009, it approved a total of US$16.1 billion in financing operations through loans, grants, guarantees, a trade finance facilitation program, equity investments, and technical assistance projects. ADB also mobilized cofinancing amounting to US$3.2 billion.