Afghanistan broke ground on its first industrial park on Thursday, a 15-hectare (37-acre) site on the outskirts of the capital Kabul that is being built with the help of US aid.
Coca Cola is setting up a production plant on the site, government officials said. They said they hoped the Bagrami Industrial Park would eventually host 80 to 100 small and medium-sized enterprises.
Afghanistan is one of the world's poorest countries and in March international donors agreed to provide $8.2 billion over three years to cover reconstruction and budget costs.
But the government says it needs private sector help to revive indigenous industries such as textiles and agriculture, and officials said the park was a vital step in achieving that.
"Private investment is the key to Afghanistan's future economic success but private investment needs the right conditions," US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said in a speech at the ground-breaking ceremony.
Those conditions, he said, included security, protection of property rights, a stable currency and confidence that business can operate under the rule of law.
Efforts to rebuild Afghanistan's war-shattered infrastructure and provide basic humanitarian assistance have been hampered by an insurgency by remnants of the Taleban regime, overthrown by US-led forces in late 2001, and allied militants.
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