TOKYO, May 18 (Xinhuanet) -- Japan will provide Afghanistan about 28 million US dollars in grant aid for the construction of an international terminal at Kabul International Airport under an agreement reached by the two countries Wednesday.

    The accord was signed by Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura and visiting Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah, who is in Japan for a three-day visit from Monday.

    "The Afghan people and government are very grateful for Japan's past and ongoing assistance, such as the airport terminal construction, as part of efforts to rebuild postwar Afghanistan," Abdullah told reporters after their meeting in Tokyo.

    The terminal is scheduled to be completed in 2007.

    Currently, both international and domestic services use the same terminal at the airport. The new terminal will be created for international flights and the existing terminal will be used for domestic services.

    The two foreign ministers also signed an agreement on technical cooperation that aims to streamline the process of exchanges between the two nations, in which Japan will send experts and research teams and Afghanistan will send trainees.

    Machimura told reporters at a separate press conference that Japan will continue to provide support for Afghanistan and further expand its support in the fields of education, road building and agriculture. Enditem