H.E. Mr. Hedyat Amin Arsala, Vice Chairman and Finance Minister in the Afghan Interim Administration, H.E.Dr. Rasool Amin, the Education Minister in the Afghan Interim Administration, UNDP Administrator Mr. MarkBrown, Hon’ble Ministers, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen;
It is both my honour and great pleasure to welcome all of you today to this conference, which seeks to addressthe important issue of South-South Cooperation and the Reconstruction of Afghanistan. I do wish to take thisopportunity to place on record that in the holding of this conference a very great role has been played and Imust acknowledge it to the sacrifice of my late friend and a great Afghan hero and leader late commander AhmedShah Masood, I have no doubt in my mind that in the holding of this conference we are in some form fulfillinga dream he had set out with.
On 22nd December 2002, when the Interim Administration of Afghanistan, led by Chairman Karzai, took charge,the challenges, that confronted Afghanistan, were multifaceted. I was in Kabul on that day. And in spite ofthe then prevailing situation then in Afghanistan, the air of optimism was palpable and a sense of purpose notonly amongst the great citizens of Afghanistan and Kabul, but also in those dignitaries who were visiting fromabroad.
That was then. The Afghan Interim Administration completed 5 months of rule yesterday. We are happy that thusfar efforts of the Interim Administration, to restore normalcy in various walks of life are beginning toproduce positive results. The fact that the Taliban and Al-Qaida continue to regroup with external support,however, represents a serious threat to the international efforts aimed at reconstruction and rehabilitationof the Afghan economy.
I would like to share with you, very briefly, India’s approach to Afghan reconstruction. We have approachedthis by focusing on (a) providing immediate humanitarian relief in the field of health, (b) buildinginstitutional strengths of the government machinery, (c) offer project and commodity assistance in prioritysectors of Health, Education, Civil Aviation, Information Technology, Industrial Development, PublicTransport, Agriculture and Training, and (d) synergise with international efforts to meet the requirements ofthe Afghan Interim Administration. To share with you some specific projects: 50 buses are being provided - 25have already been handed over and I have been informed, commissioned in Kabul; 3 commercial aircraft will beprovided by India; 300 vehicles will also be made available for Afghan Army are being provided and the Firstbatch of 20 Afghan Diplomats, I am very happy to say, have completed training at our Diplomatic TrainingAcademy.
Our Prime Minister has made a financial commitment of US$ 100 million for reconstruction and rehabilitationprojects. We have also in addition offered grants for US$ 21.5 million to the Afghan Interim Administrationfor immediate utilization by the Afghan government. As the emphasis is on implementation, I am glad to saythat about 30% of the overall financial commitment has already been channeled into various projects. Ourdesire is, as it is, I am sure, of the rest of the international community, to see that Afghanistan re-emergesas a strong and independent nation. We would also be happy to pool our resources with other interestedcountries in assisting Afghanistan in the areas that have just been enumerated.
The International community has taken a series of steps to establish mechanisms to systematically promote thereaddressal of various challenges that face the Afghan nation. For Afghan reconstruction to be meaningful, theinternational community would, this time around, have to sustain its involvement in Afghanistan on long-termbasis. For international efforts to yield effective and meaningful results, all reconstruction projects, fromconception to implementation, must have total approval and involvement of the Afghan Interim Administration.The Reconstruction in Afghanistan cannot but be and must only be an Afghan led process.
The idea of holding today’s conference was born out of the realization that the synergies in the frameworkof South-South Cooperation could be used to offer reconstruction and other assistance to Afghanistan. We wouldlike this Conference to be of practical assistance to Afghanistan for its reconstruction. Based on theexperiences of Developing Countries I am suggesting a ten point programme for consideration during thedeliberations in this Conference.
1. Relevant capacities of developing countries can be easily and cost-effectively made available to the Afghanled rebuilding effort. This could also apply to building democratic, transparent and responsive institutions -an important condition for reconstruction efforts.
2. Training of Afghan personnel in or by developing countries in accordance with Afghan requirements.
3. Regional and inter-regional cooperation
4. Private sector partnership
5. Triangular cooperation between Afghanistan, developed and Developing Countries.
6. Education, Health, Poverty Alleviation, Vocational Training, Public Administration, inclusive of Financialmanagement, Credit Extension Schemes and administrative reforms could be amongst areas, which can beidentified for cooperation between Afghanistan and developing countries.
7. Sharing Developing countries experiences in respect of their own citizens living abroad for utilizing theservices and resources of Afghans living outside Afghanistan for the reconstruction effort in Afghanistan.
8. Similarly share experiences for encouraging role of women and their participation in political, social,economic and cultural life.
9. Practical application of S&T and IT technologies to address social and economic development based onthe results in other developing countries.
10. Emphasis must always be, Ladies and Gentlemen, on implementation. We confer a great deal, and meet often,but there often remains a lag between what we promise and what gets delivered. That is why I would suggest afocal point both in Afghanistan and in each Developing/Donor Country to facilitate practical cooperation. UNDPhas a very important role to play and a function to perform as a facilitator.
On behalf of India, I can reiterate our offer to continue to jointly work with Afghanistan and theInternational Community in what I have said about and other areas.
I must place on record, my very sincere gratitude to the UNDP for all the support that they have provided inthe joint organization of today’s conference. This conference has an excellent opportunity and greatresponsibility to contribute meaningfully to Afghan Reconstruction and Rehabilitation. I wish itsdeliberations all success.
