AGA KHAN AIDS CENTRAL ASIA - 2003-05-06

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (Bloomberg) -- The Aga Khan, known for his portfolio of racehorses and investments in luxury Italian hotels, is looking to impoverished countries in Central Asia for profits. The Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development, a for-profit arm of the philanthropic Aga Khan Development Network, is rebuilding a $25 million hotel in the Afghan capital of Kabul and providing loans to mountain farmers in Tajikistan. It also has a 30 percent stake in the Kyrgyz Investment Credit Bank, which provides the funding for most of Kyrgyzstan's infrastructure projects.