Kabul, Dec 1, SPA -- The U.S. ambassador and theAfghan finance minister signed a memorandum ofunderstanding Thursday on agreements for what is expectedto be billions of dollars in development aid forAfghanistan over the next five years. The agreements, to be implemented by the U.S. Agency forInternational Development and the Afghan government, setout plans for U.S. support of programs in education, healthcare and economic and democratic development, among otherthings. The United States has committed US$479.6 million (¤407million) this year, and Afghan Finance Minister Anwarul-Haq Ahadi said the total U.S. funding over five years isexpected to reach US$5.5 billion (¤4.7 billion). "Supporting a prosperous and democratic Afghanistan isvitally important to all branches of the United Statesgovernment and to the American people," U.S. AmbassadorRonald Neumann said at the ceremony. "Afghanistan has suffered three decades of destruction.It will take a long time to fix the damage that has beendone, not only to roads and buildings, but to institutionsand civil society," he said. On his part, Ahadi said the promise of long-term aid would help theAfghanistan plan development spending. "I'm thanking you for coming up with these agreementsbecause it helps us with the element of predictability inour budget," he was quoted as saying by The Associated Press.--SPA1601 Local Time 1301 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/307000