Following is the text of the U.S. Embassy press release:

U.S. Embassy-Kabul
Public Affairs Office

July 13, 2002

Kabul -- The U.S. Government is providing Afghanistan with an Internet Center that will enable Afghan businessmen and traders to sell their products and services worldwide via e-commerce.

U.S. Ambassador Robert P. Finn and Afghanistan's Minister of Commerce, Sayed Mustafa Kazemi, signed an agreement July 13 to provide the Ministry with Internet connectivity and 10 computer terminals. The center is expected to be functioning within one month. The grant for the equipment and Internet service, valued at $50,000, is provided through the U.S. Agency for International Development/Office of Transition Initiatives (USAID/OTI).

After the signing ceremony at the Ministry of Commerce in Kabul, Ambassador Finn told a group of domestic and foreign reporters that the grant was "a little step, but a very important step toward moving the country away from war." He noted that there is widespread interest in Afghanistan on the part of American investors and that he had received a number of inquiries. He said some deals in the telecommunications and hotel industries are nearing completion, and added that a group of experts from the United States will travel to Afghanistan soon to investigate the possibility of developing the country's oil and gas reserves. However, Finn cautioned that improved security is necessary for businesses to flourish.

Afghan Commerce Minister Kazemi thanked the United States for the grant and said the center would give both Afghan traders and dealers, as well as the ministry itself, access to the Internet. He said the services of the center would be expanded throughout the country.

Minister Kazemi said he plans to travel to the United States July 24-25 for a meeting on Afghanistan, sponsored by Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. During the visit, he said he hopes to encourage closer ties between Afghan and U.S. businessmen, and to foster establishment of a sales distribution center in the United States for Afghan goods.

He added that Afghanistan's Commission on Private Investment is ready to approve legislation next week that would improve the investment climate in Afghanistan and ease requirements for Afghan businesses selling products and services abroad. He added that he expects full Cabinet approval of the legislation soon.