KABUL, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- A total of 165 large and small manufacturing plants have been established in Afghanistan's western province of Herat over the past nine months, the state-owned Bakhtar news agency reported.
The plants have been set up in various sectors, such as food production, construction materials, chemicals and other products in the province's industrial parks, Bakhtar quoted Mufti Mohammad Yusuf Sayedi, provincial government spokesman, as saying.
Currently, Herat province is home to 1,163 operational factories in various sectors. The factories provide job opportunities for hundreds of thousands of residents in the areas, it said.
The Afghan caretaker government has been working to strengthen industries throughout the war-stricken country, aiming to address economic challenges and generate employment opportunities. ■
