ISLAMABAD, May 15: The minister for housing and works Abbas Sarfaraz Khan and the visiting Afghan minister for public works Abdul Khaliq Fazal, discussed here today reconstruction and rehabilitation of Afghanistan.

While welcoming the Afghan delegation, Pakistan’s minister for housing said the Pakistani consultants, construction companies, contractors and manufacturers of building material, are keen to work in Afghanistan.

He said Pakistan also wants to help Afghans in their rehabilitation and construction efforts for which the government was willing to provide incentives to the private sector.

Sarfaraz said Pakistan could also assist in the preparation of feasibility studies, designing, planning, and monitoring of projects.

Sarfaraz asked his counterpart to identify projects which could be taken up by Pakistani consultants and contractors and use their good offices to provide necessary assistance in this regard.

The minister said that a Pakistani delegation of constructors is likely to visit Afghanistan to look into the possibility of them participating in reconstruction projects.

The minister also offered to help train Afghan engineers by establishing an organization like Nespak.

He said that President Gen Pervez Musharraf had announced US$100 million aid for Afghanistan for the development of infrastructure projects. Warehouses are also being established near the border at Peshawar.

The Afghan minister appreciated the role Pakistan was prepared to play in the reconstruction of Afghanistan.

He said that Pakistani businessmen are welcome to invest in every sector and that there were many opportunities for them like exporting of raw material, construction of roads, housing apartments, hotels, airports, schools, and hospitals.

The minister also invited Pakistani companies to submit tenders for reconstruction programmes being implemented under the World Bank, ADB, and donors assistance.

The meeting was attended by secretary Housing and Works, Muhammad Aslam, DG, PHA/Nespak, MD NL and other senior officials of Afghan Ministry of Public Works and Federal Ministry of Housing and Works.