Baradar meets Mes Aynak project director, urges quick construction start
Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, on Saturday in Kabul met with Wang Zhicheng, the Director General of the contracting company for the Mes Aynak copper mine in Logar province.
During the meeting, Baradar described Mes Aynak as one of Afghanistan’s key economic projects and emphasized that the Islamic Emirate has provided all necessary facilities to support the contracting company in advancing the project, according to a statement from his office.
Baradar urged the company to begin the construction phase of the project as soon as possible and to address any issues causing delays.
Wang Zhicheng, Director General of MCC, praised the cooperation of the Islamic Emirate in furthering the project.
He mentioned that significant progress has been made in several aspects of the Mes Aynak project and expressed readiness to proceed with the next steps in coordination with the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum.
The Aynak copper mine contains millions of tons of copper and is believed to have the second-largest copper reserve in the world.
The contract for the Aynak copper mine was signed in 1999 with the Chinese company MCC for 30 years, but due to security issues and prolonged excavations of ancient relics in the area, the extraction of copper was delayed.
