OPIC Highlights is published by Overseas Private Investment Corporation 1100 New York Avenue, N.W.  Washington, D.C. 20527

OPIC Highlights

Office of External Affairs 

1100 New York Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20527 

202-336-8400 

www.opic.gov 

OVERSEAS PRIVATE INVESTMENT CORPORATION 

OPIC is providing more than $94 million in financing and insurance to projects ranging from construction 

and manufacturing to tourism infrastructure, transportation and services.

Supporting Private Sector Investment in Afghanistan 

OPIC Insurance Helps Humanitarian Aid Reach

Developing Countries

The International Rescue Committee, Inc. (IRC), one of the world's leading 

humanitarian nonprofit organizations, will be able to carry out humanitarian, dis­ aster relief and medical assistance, refugee resettlement and retraining programs

in 17 developing countries worldwide, including Afghanistan with the support of

$5 million in OPIC political risk insurance. The OPIC insurance will cover items in IRC offices such as computers, furniture, generators and pumps, as well as tools, medicines and vehicles.

OPIC Loan to Refurbish

Soft Drink Plant

A U.S. small business will use a loan 

from OPIC to refurbish a soft drink 

plant in Afghanistan, helping the 

country both address a lack of clean 

drinking water and meet a growing 

demand for carbonated beverages.

OPIC is providing $3.1 million to 

QWO Joint Stock 

Company, a small 

business owned by a

group of AfghanAmericans and Afghans,

to refurbish a plant near

Kabul and produce soft 

drinks in 250 ml

recyclable glass bottles.

QWO will use warehouse

and direct delivery systems to distribute the beverages. The plant will 

employ 132 Afghans and 

indirectly create more

than 1,000 jobs, primarily 

in distribution and product sourcing services.

The plant was built by 

QWO in 1991 and opened the fol­ 

lowing year, but shut down after

rebel forces invaded Kabul.

This project demonstrates that 

Afghanistan's economy is slowly 

beginning to stabilize, in part by rec­ ognizing a significant market in the 

increasing numbers of Afghans 

returning home from Western countries. Even more importantly, its 

developmental benefits will help 

Afghanistan address a need for safe

drinking sources.

OPIC Loan to Provide Business Support Services

OPIC is providing a $300,000 loan to U.S. small business IBS Holdings to 

provide business support services to companies establishing operations in 

Afghanistan.

The loan will be used to outfit an office in Kabul with equipment, from which IBS

will offer support services to business representatives such as short­term office

leasing, meeting services, business registration assistance and secretarial/technical 

support. IBS will also liaise with Afghan government ministries concerning 

licenses, customs and client needs. As such, IBS stands to be the first comprehensive, business solution service company in Kabul to provide clients with international as well as local knowledge.
OPIC is a U.S. government agency that helps U.S. businesses invest overseas, fosters economic development in new and emerging markets, complements the private sector in managing risks associated with foreign direct investment, and supports U.S. foreign policy. Because OPIC charges market-based fees for its products, it operates on a self-sustaining basis at no net cost to 

taxpayers. Since 1971, OPIC has supported more than $164 billion worth of investments that have generated over $69 billion in 

U.S. exports and supported more than 264,000 American jobs. For more information please go to www.opic.gov.

October 2006 

OPIC Helps Rebuild Infrastructure

OPIC's commitment to support reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan included rebuilding the vital Kabul­to­Kandahar highway, which has reduced traveling time from Kabul to the country's second­largest city from two days to six hours. OPIC provided 

over $5 million in insurance to ARC Construction Company for heavy equipment used to repair the first 30 miles of the high­ 

way. ARC was established specifically to undertake infrastructure reconstruction projects in Afghanistan, and employs trained 

Afghans to do so.

OPIC Financing & Insurance Help Build

Modern Housing

An OPIC­supported project is helping to provide modern 

housing to an area devastated by more than two decades of

conflict. Maskan Ltd., a U.S. small business and subsidiary of Maskan 

Inc. of Delaware will use a $2.47 million loan and a $753,000 

political risk insurance 'wrap' from OPIC to build three

residential buildings in Kabul. In 

addition to building 105 new housing units for

middle­income

Afghans, along 

with related water, sewage and backup 

electrical systems,

the project will also 

provide much­needed 

investment in the 

country's depleted 

housing sector. The project represents

the first phase in a

development, called 

Sharhara, that will 

ultimately comprise 17 buildings ­ 10 residential, six mixed 

residential and commercial, and one commercial. This project 

comes at an important time as many regions of Afghanistan,

especially cities such as Kabul, experience an acute shortage of

housing due to a large influx of refugees from rural areas.

Moreover, a recent U.N Habitat assessment of the most 

affected areas in Kabul indicated that approximately 80 percent 

of residential and commercial buildings had been damaged or

completely destroyed during Soviet occupation and Taliban 

rule.

OPIC Insurance Supports 

Pharmaceutical Production Facility

Voted OPIC’s most developmental project in 2005, OPIC

political risk insurance helped support the establishment of a

sustainable pharmaceutical industry in Afghanistan, which is

providing much­needed and affordable medicines to ordinary 

Afghans, as well as valuable technology transfer and job 

skills. OPIC provid­ ed insurance

to National 

Union Fire

Insurance

Company of

Pittsburgh to 

support a

policy issued 

to the Swiss­ 

based nonprofit association Business Humanitarian Forum (BHF). The

policy insured the European Generic Medicines Association's 

(EGA) donation of medical equipment to an Afghan doctor 

who established the company called Baz International 

Pharmaceutical Company Ltd. (BIPC). Establishment of the facility was the result of a three­year

partnership between the BHF and EGA, the official representative body of the European generic pharmaceutical industry. Other partners in the project included the Deutsche Post

World Net (DPWN)/ DHL, which provided financial support 

and logistical assistance for the transportation of the equip­ 

ment to Kabul, the German Investment and Development 

Corporation (DEG), and the United Nations Development 

Programme Afghanistan.

The BHF, DPWN/ DHL and EGA have built, equipped, and 

trained staff for the facility, which is dispensing and packaging generic medicines, thereby improving the badly­needed 

quality and access to essential medicine for Afghan citizens.