*EPF507 08/15/2003
Text: OPIC Loans $3 Million to Help Increase Afghan Cashmere Exports
(Many elderly Afghan women to find employment as result of loan) (560)

The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) will provide a $3 million loan to Afghan American businessman Nesar Nusraty to enable him to stimulate production and exports of cashmere wool from Afghanistan, according to an OPIC press release August 15.

Many elderly Afghan women would be employed as a result of the loan, OPIC said.

Following is the text of the OPIC press release:

(begin text)

Friday, August 15, 2003
For further information, contact: Lawrence Spinelli (202) 336-8690 or Timothy Harwood (202) 336-8744

U.S. SMALL BUSINESS USES OPIC LOAN TO INCREASE CASHMERE EXPORTS FROM AFGHANISTAN

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Financing from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) will enable a U.S. small business owned by an Afghan-American to provide significant seasonal employment for Afghan women, OPIC President and CEO Dr. Peter Watson announced today.

OPIC will provide a $3 million loan to American Wool-Cashmere Inc. of Takoma Park, Maryland, enabling the company to provide greater liquidity to its Afghan suppliers, in turn facilitating their ability to purchase cashmere wool from local farmers and thus stimulating production. More seasonal employees --- typically middle-aged and elderly Afghan women --- would be hired as a result.

The wool is seasonally sheered from goats owned by small farmers, who sell the unprocessed wool to suppliers working with American Wool. The suppliers hire large numbers women to remove the coarse surface wool. Although the employment is seasonal, it lasts four to five months, and follows the country's harsh winters.

American Wool is owned by Nesar Nusraty, a successful Afghan-American entrepreneur who came to the United States as a teenager and established a carpet and drapery-cleaning business.

"OPIC is pleased to work with a U.S. small business to assist in the reconstruction of Afghanistan's economy," Dr Watson said. "This project will make important contributions to the Afghan economy on several levels: it will increase the market for a vital Afghan commodity; provide significant seasonal employment for Afghan women; and encourage the renewal of Afghanistan's goat herds, which have been devastated by years of drought and war."

Dr. Watson noted that the project was approved by OPIC's Small Business Center, established in October 2002 to provide qualified small businesses the opportunity to utilize OPIC's resources with improved customer service, flexible coverage, and easier access through a streamlined approval process.

OPIC was established as an agency of the U.S. government in 1971. It 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. OPIC's political risk insurance and financing help U.S. businesses of all sizes invest in more than 150 emerging markets and developing nations worldwide. Over the agency's 32-year history, OPIC has supported $145 billion worth of investments that have helped developing countries to generate over $11 billion in host-government revenues and create over 680,000 host-country jobs. OPIC projects have also generated $65 billion in U.S. exports and created more than 254,000 American jobs.

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(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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