KABUL, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani said here on Saturday that his government encourages the private sector to invest in Afghanistan.
"The government is committed to encouraging and supporting investment by the private sector in the country," Ghani said in his remarks before cutting the ribbon and pressing the button of a newly-built steel plant, the Khan Steel, at the Pul-e-Charkhi in the eastern edge of Kabul.
Ghani also said that his administration would spare no efforts to change Afghanistan from an importer country into an exporter one to stand on its feet.
Established with a capital of 30 million U.S. dollars in 2015, the Khan Steel is the fifth steel factory in the war-torn Afghanistan.
The newly-inaugurated factory will have a daily production of 400 tons of steel rods out of scrap steel, according to owner Khan Mohammad Wardak. In the future, the company will use iron ore mines to produce steel.
The factory has also provided job opportunities for 500 people directly and for hundreds of thousands others indirectly.
Thousands and even millions of tons of scrap steel including destroyed military tanks, armored personnel carriers, military vehicles and even war planes have been left from over more than three decades of war and civil strife in Afghanistan.
