KABUL, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Afghan authorities have inaugurated the first and largest modern cold storage facility in western Herat province, the provincial government office announced on Saturday.
Constructed at a cost of 1.5 million U.S. dollars on a 4,000-square-meter site in Guzura district, the privately funded facility boasts a storage capacity of 3,000 tons of fruit and meat, according to the office.
The state-of-the-art installation is poised to bolster the province's agricultural sector by enabling producers and traders to preserve perishable goods more effectively ahead of distribution to domestic and international markets, it added.
The Afghan government has granted a five-year tax exemption for cold storage investors to spur agricultural growth. Some 80 percent of the country's 37.2 million population largely relies on agriculture for their livelihoods. ■
