ABU DHABI - Etisalat today re-ceived ‘ The Most

Valuable Portfolio Brand’ in Middle East

and North Africa (MENA) by Brand Finance as a recognition for the company’s impressive portfolio of brands becoming the first Middle East group to break the $10 billion barrier in terms of wider portfolio value.

Volume No. 4085 Thursday January 24, 2019 Dalw 04, 1397 www.outlookafghanistan.net Price: 20/-Afs

Quote of the Day

Every book you pick up has its own lesson or lessons, and quite often the bad books have more to teach than the good ones.

Stephen King

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US and Taliban representatives are meeting again in Doha yesterday (Wednesday) in an effort to achieve badly-needed progress on key issues

including foreign forces’ withdrawal from Afghanistan.

China recognizes the Taliban as a “political force” amid its participation in the Afghan peace process, said its envoy to Pakistan, according to local media.

KABUL - Afghanistan’s main spy agency said on Wednesday it had killed the Taliban commander behind a deadly attack on one of its bases this week, and vowed to hunt down and kill all the rest of those involved.The National Directorate of Se-curity (NDS) said the Taliban commander, identified only as Noman, was killed in an air strike on Tuesday night.The agency said Noman was the mastermind of a Monday at-tack on an NDS base in Maidan Wardak province, west of Kabul, in which the NDS said 36 people were killed and 58 wounded. Other officials said the casualty toll was higher.“Noman, along with seven oth-ers, was targeted after being iden-tified by the NDS forces,” the se-curity agency said in a statement.“NDS will follow the terrorist group and kill them all.”The Taliban issued a statement, denying that the commander had been killed.The insurgent attack in Maidan Wardak was the latest to inflict heavy ...(More on P4)...(3)

KABUL - The Independent Election Commission (IEC) on Wednesday announced the final results of parliamentary elections for Kapisa, Panjshir and Sar-e-Pul provinces.The IEC was expected to reveal the final election results for 12 provinces later in the day, but due to certain issues, the results of only three provinces were an-nounced.“We urge the electoral com-plaints commission to address the complaints based on the timetable being set by the elec-tion commission so that the final results of other provinces could also be announced,” said the IEC chief Abdulbadi Sayad.The official, meanwhile, urged the protesting candidates to should seek their rights through legal channels....(More on P4)...(5)

Afghan Spy Agency Says it Kills Taliban Mastermind of Deadly Attack

IEC Unveils Final Results of Parliamentary Elections for Three Provinces

Unable to Make Progress, US, Taliban Meet Again

ISLAMABAD - Yao Jing, China’s ambassador in Islamabad, also praised Pakistan’s role in fa-cilitating the Afghan peace process -- including its efforts to facilitate talks between the Taliban and U.S. -- and helping end the long conflict in Afghanistan.

China Recognizes Afghan Taliban as Political Force

“China will pick Taliban as a politi-cal force because they are now part of the Afghan po-litical process and they have some political con-cerns,” the Dawn quoted Yao telling a gathering in the northwestern city of Peshawar.China has had contacts with the Afghan govern-

ment and Taliban, and its special envoy visited the Taliban political office in Doha, he added.“China supports all efforts taken for peace in Afghanistan because the Af-ghan people deserve peace and stabil-

ity,” said Yao.On Jan. 14, on a four-nation trip, top U.S. peace negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad visited Beijing and met with Chinese officials.“Fruitful talks with senior Chi-nese officials who committed to the success of Afghan peace. We discussed regional support for an inclusive peace process for all Afghans & ensuring Afghanistan never again serves as a platform for terrorism,” Khalilzad tweet-ed after his meetings with Chi-nese officialsLast December, Pakistan con-firmed it had arranged rare di-rect talks between Washington and the Taliban, paving the way for a negotiated settlement of the conflict that has entered its 18th year. ...(More on P4)...(4)

KABUL - The Central Bank reduced the average interest rate for this solar year in order to help boost the economy. The Central Bank (Da Afghanistan Bank) said this week that the average interest rate cut phased in at the start of this solar year has finally been rolled out throughout the country. Central Bank officials said the interest rate cut, which was launched at the end of March last year, should now be adhered to by all banks across Af-ghanistan.They said this move to cut the average interest rate had been made in order to help boost invest-ment and improve economic growth.Khalil Sediqi the Central Bank chairman said in-terest on loans dropped from 13 percent to 12.2 percent this solar year.He said, in addition to reducing the average in-terest rate, loan guarantees have been simplified, and loan repayment periods have been adjusted from three years to either five or seven years.“The average rate charged by the banks is 11.02 percent. This average was 13.17 percent in fiscal year 2016,” said Sediqi.The Association of Industrialists meanwhile wel-comed the lower interest rate and said it will boost investment in the country.“If we provide more opportunities to the private sector and investors, we will surely see significant changes in the Afghan economy in the coming years,” said Sakhi Ahmad Paiman, head of the as-sociation. ...(More on P4)...(2)

KABUL - Russia has welcomed the resumption of peace negotiations between the US and Taliban on the pullout of American troops from Afghanistan.Zamir Kabulov, President Vladimir Putin’s envoy for Afghanistan, told Russian news agency RIA Novosti that Moscow was “positive” about the talks on the US troop withdrawal from the war-hit country.US Special Representative for Afghanistan recon-ciliation Zalmay Khalilzad would visit Moscow next month, the diplomat said. “He wants to meet us. We largely are ready to have a meeting with him in Moscow...”Moscow plans holding another meeting on Af-ghanistan, but the date is yet to be finalised, ac-cording to the envoy, who believed the negotia-tions were still in infancy and the course remained unpredictable. (Pajhwok)

Interest Rate Cut in Place, Says

Central Bank

Russia Hails Resumption of US-Taliban Negotiations

DOHA - Two days of negotiations between Taliban and US delegations ended on a sterile note on Tuesday. In a bid to move forward on critical mat-ters, the negotiators agreed to extend the parleys by a , a media report said on Wednesday. .The News International quoted Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid as say-

ing that the latest round of lengthy talks with the American team, led by special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, yielded no concrete result.Withdrawal of US forces, formation of an interim government and lifting of the travel ban on Taliban leaders came up for discussion at the meeting, un-named Taliban representatives told the

newspaper.The US sought guarantees from the Taliban that Afghanistan’s soil would not be used against any other country, particularly against the US, in future.One Taliban source privy to the discus-sion said they felt US officials were yet to come up with clear answers to two major demands --...(More on P4)...(1)

Etisalat boasts of a portfolio of brands such as Etisalat Misr, Mobily, Ufone, Maroc Telecom, PTCL and Etisalat Afghanistan. The company has also seen an 8 percent growth since last year, resulting in becoming the first Middle Eastern brand to hold such a wide portfolio. For the second consecutive year, Etisalat also retained its position as the most valuable con-sumer brand in the Middle East and Africa. “We are proud to achieve the recognition as the most valuable portfolio brand and the

• Most valuable portfolio brand in the MENA region for the 3rd year in a row• Remains the most valuable consumer brand in MEA for 2nd consecutive year

Etisalat Sets New Record as First Middle East Brand Portfolio to Break $10bn Barrier

first Middle Eastern brand to break the $10 billion barrier in terms of wider portfolio val-ue in the MENA region. Thanks to the UAE leadership’s support, vision and encourage-ment that helped Etisalat achieve this signif-icant milestone surpassing some of the top renowned regional brands. This achievement is also due to our continuous efforts in digital transformation whereby we have amplified our reach and presence in a highly competi-tive marketplace by ...(More on P4)...(6)