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Afghan Ministry of Mines says its income through the Ainak copper mine will increase to $163m this year as soon as the Metallurgical Corporation of China (MCC) pays $107m it owes to the Afghan government.

The Ministry of Mines said that the Chinese company has to pay the amount in about two months time by the end of the Afghan calendar year.

The Chinese company (MCC) has to pay another $560m to the Afghan government by 2014 before starting extraction of copper from the Ainak mine in Logar province.

The government has so far received $133m out of the $808m of advance payment, the Ministry said.

"We got 80 million dollars in 2008 and received an amount of $53m later, which means the Chinese company will have to pay 107 million more by the end of the year," Minister of Mines Waheedullah Sharhrani said.

Mr Shahrani said the preliminary steps of work at the Ainak copper mine have been successful and the Chinese company is satisfied with the cooperation provided by the Afghan government.

Based on the contract signed between the Afghan Ministry of Mines and the Chinese MCC company, the company has to pay $808m in advance in three installments.

Ainak copper mine is considered the biggest mines project in Afghanistan that has attracted a lot of foreign investment.

The Ministry of Mines had earlier said that around 2,900 samples have been taken from the Ainak mine and sent to Chinese laboratories.

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The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has dedicated $800 million to Afghanistan.

The US Ambassador to Afghanistan, Ryan Crocker, said that the money will be spent on agriculture, health, training sectors and reconstruction of Afghanistan.

"We are signing several important documents today that enforce our long term commitment to the development of Afghanistan and its people," Mr Crocker said. "The documents that we are signing represent more than 8 hundred million dollars of US government funding for the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund in the health, economic growth, agriculture, infrastructure, education, general projects and stabilization sectors," Crocker added.

Meanwhile, the Afghan ministry of Finance said that USAID will donate more than $1b which will be spent by the government of Afghanistan.

USAID will increase it's aid from 5 percent to 35 percent through Afghanistan's Reconstruction Trust Fund.

"According to the agreement, they will spend money through the government budget," Afghan minister of Finance, Omer Zakhilwal said. "The donations will flow through the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund."

On the other hand, the Afghan Minister of Rural Rehabilitation and Development Jarullah Mansoori said that the US government has donated $540m for the National Solidarity programme.

The United States of America has helped with the construction of two power plants over Helmand River. In the past ten years the country has donated more $30 billion dollars for different sectors in Afghanistan.

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Production of carpets in Afghanistan has dropped 70 per cent in the past two years, an official from Afghanistan's Carpet Association said.

The association is critical of the government for not supporting it during the past decade.

The high price of raw materials and the lack of facilities have caused many carpet manufacturers to quit and look for other job, the official added.

Despite these challenges and shortfalls, the price of one square meter of carpet on the international market costs as much as $8,000.

The price of producing carpets has also increased. Most Afghan carpets are exported through Pakistan and carry Pakistani branding. It now costs double for Pakistan traders to buy Afghan carpets due to currency fluctuations.

"Because the value of Pakistani rupees is lower than Afghanis, and because of the high price of raw materials, electricity and other challenges, the price of carpet production within Afghanistan has tremendously increased," the head of the Afghan Chamber of Commerce, Mohammad Qurban Haqjosaid, said.

Meanwhile, the Afghan Ministry of Commerce said it has taken measures to improve carpet production in the country.

The spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce, Wahidullah Ghazikhil, cited two industrial parks in Nangarhar and Faryab provinces as part of that progress.

"Currently there are two industrial carpet parks in Afghanistan, one in Nangarhar province and other is in Faryab province," Mr Ghazikhil said. "All the activities including sewing, painting and scissoring of the carpets is done inside in the country. The main reason of low production is high labour wages ."

The Nangarhar Carpet Industrial Association said that despite the budget being approved for the construction of the industrial park three years ago, the park is still not constructed.

Despite these challenges, Afghan carpets are still considered superior to other nations' carpets, winning first place at international exhibitions around the world.

Afghan carpets have taken first place at Germany's Domitix Exhibition for several consecutive years.

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The incomes of the Afghan Ministry of Transport and Aviation have increased by 30% percent compared to last year, the Ministry said on Wednesday.

The Afghan Ministry of Transport and Aviation said its income this year has reached approximately 90 million dollars.

The Ministry said it is planning to increase air transit taxes on foreign airliners using Afghan airspace.

It said much of the income is earned from air transit taxes.

According to the Ministry, around 250 planes pass over the Afghan airspace on a daily basis.

The air transit is charged between 400 to 450 US dollars per flights.

"We get our incomes through land transport taxes, but mainly through air transit taxes. We got 79 million dollars of incomes last year, but it increased to 90 million so far this year," Minister of Transport and Aviation, Dawood Ali Najafi, said.

Better transport management system and installation of radar stations in 26 provinces have helped increase the incomes, the Ministry added.

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Afghanistan and Iran have signed an economic cooperation agreement at the end of the second meeting of the Afghan-Iran economic committee, officials said.

Afghan Ministry of Finance said on Monday that Afghanistan and Iran have also agreed to form joint committees to solve trade and transit problems and to address customs problems that Afghan traders face at Chabahar port.

The two-day meeting of the Afghan-Iran economic committee in Kabul discussed cooperation in customs, transport and railway, addressing problems of Afghan and Iranian traders on both sides, and prevention of money laundering.

"The difference with this meeting than those in the past is that we have set timelines for everything that should be done," Financial Deputy of the Afghan Ministry of Finance, Mustafa Mastoor, said.

Iran's Deputy Minister of Economy, Behrooz Alishiri, said that economic relationship between Iran and Afghanistan should not be overshadowed by political relations with other countries.

"We are committed to reduce the vulnerability of the traders of the two countries to reach the minimum level," Mr Alishiri said.

The trade between Iran and Afghanistan has reached to over one billion dollars and it is expected to increase after transit problems are solved.

Meanwhile, Afghan experts doubt the practicality of economic agreements inked between Afghanistan and its neighbours. They say that such agreements have been signed with some of the neighbours in the past but have not been implemented yet.

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