KABUL - The US and Afghanistan Signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Monday for the New Development Partnership under which Washington would provide up to $800 million to Kabul in budget assistance to maintain and build on the development gains made over the last 13 years.

A statement from the US Embassy in Kabul stated that Finance Minister Eklil Hakimi, the US Ambassador to Afghanistan, P. Michael McKinley, and the USAID Mission Director William Hammink signed the MoU for the New Development Partnership.

The New Development Partnership reflects the strategic importance of the U.S.-Afghanistan relationship and recognizes a new era of development cooperation between the two governments.

This initiative delivers on the commitment made during Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s March visit to Washington during which President Barack Obama pledged to support the Afghan National Unity Government’s efforts to achieve its own ambitious reform agenda.

Afghanistan’s Minister of Finance Eklil Hakimi thanked the US for its generous support with the New Development Partnership.

US Ambassador P. Michael McKinley remarked that the New Development Partnership represents a fundamental transformation in the nature of development cooperation between the two countries. It empowers Afghan solutions to Afghan challenges, by incentivizing and rewarding Afghan successes. (Pajhwok)