ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA - (June 4, 2003) Reconstruction of Afghanistan's infrastructure is the focus of a major conference organized by the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) and the U.S. Department of Commerce. The event is designed to bring Afghan government officials together with U.S. suppliers of engineering, construction and technology services and equipment. The conference will take place June 8-10, 2003, at the Renaissance Chicago Hotel, 1 West Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois.

"Afghanistan - Rebuilding a Nation" will highlight more than 35 large-scale projects in the areas of: electric power; water and sanitation; transportation, including roads and civil aviation; oil and gas development and pipelines; telecommunications; and construction. The combined value of the projects to be presented at the conference is expected to exceed $4 billion. Registrants for the conference include over 200 U.S. company representatives. The 15 corporate sponsors of the conference include Caterpillar, Motorola and Case New Holland.

The conference program includes participation by senior U.S. and Afghan Government officials. Among the U.S. officials scheduled to attend are Dr. Zalmay Khalilzad, Special U.S. Presidential Envoy for Afghanistan, and Ambassador William B. Taylor, Jr., Special Representative for Donor Assistance at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. USTDA Director Thelma J. Askey and Under Secretary of Commerce Grant Aldonas also are slated to address conference participants.

The Afghan delegation will be led by the Minister of Commerce of Afghanistan, the Honorable Sayed Mustafa Kazimi. In addition, the Afghan Ministers of Reconstruction and Communications, as well as the Governor of the Central Bank of Afghanistan and Deputy Ministers from seven other Afghan Ministries, will make presentations. Afghan officials taking part in the event will present details on specific projects and make themselves available for one-on-one meetings with participating U.S. companies.

Representatives of U.S. agencies involved in trade and international development work, as well as members of the Afghan-American business community, will be present at the conference. Officials from U.S. and international lending institutions, including the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank, also will be on hand to discuss financing and loan guarantee programs available to U.S. companies for Afghanistan reconstruction and development projects.

For more information, visit the conference website at www.trademeetings.com. Members of the media interested in covering this event should register on-line via the conference website.

At the luncheon on June 9, 2003, Ambassador Taylor will deliver a keynote address and OPIC will hold a signing ceremony on a hotel project in Kabul involving Hyatt Corporation. Following the luncheon, Ambassador Taylor, along with Minister Kazimi of Afghanistan, USTDA Director Askey, Commerce Under Secretary Aldonas, and the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of OPIC, Ross J. Connelly, will be available to answer press questions. Dr. Khalilzad will be available to answer questions from the media following his keynote luncheon address on June 10, 2003.

The U.S. Trade and Development Agency advances economic development and U.S. commercial interests in developing and middle-income countries. The agency funds various forms of technical assistance, feasibility studies, training, orientation visits and business workshops that support the development of a modern infrastructure and a fair and open trading environment. USTDA's strategic use of foreign assistance funds to support sound investment policy and decision-making in host countries creates an enabling environment for trade, investment and sustainable economic development. In carrying out its mission, USTDA gives emphasis to economic sectors that may benefit from U.S. exports of goods and services.

The U.S. Department of Commerce promotes U.S. businesses, trade and economic policy. The Department also operates the Afghanistan Reconstruction Task Force, which serves as a clearinghouse of information for U.S. companies interested in rebuilding efforts.

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