KABUL - Twelve nations agreed here on Monday to prioritise
cooperation on power projects to spur on destitute Afghanistan's
reconstruction to help stabilise the country and undercut
its massive illicit drugs trade.
The countries -- including China, India, Iran and Russia
-- made the commitment in the "Kabul Declaration"
on regional cooperation adopted after a two-day conference
facilitated by the G8 group of industrialised nations.
The dire need for electricity was a priority at the
conference with even the capital only getting a few
hours of power a day and the lack of supply a major
drawback for investors.
President Hamid Karzai told the opening session that
Afghanistan could alone only provide power for six percent
of its population and would need to import electricity
for at least another 10 years.
Other priorities in the declaration were the sharing
of water and facilitating trade, including by improving
the road infrastructure and harmonising customs procedures.
Another priority was the fight against drugs: Afghanistan
supplies more than 80 percent of the world's opium,
used to make heroin, with the illicit trade making up
more than half of the country's gross domestic product.
The provision of electricity, water and roads would
create new jobs that would help the people of Afghanistan
"earn a living beyond illicit trade in drugs,"
Britain's junior foreign minister Kim Howells told reporters.
The Kabul Declaration marked the "moment when Afghanistan
has become a real player in bringing peace and stability
to this region," Howells said.
It was also "an important sign to the whole world
that there is great determination here not only to help
Afghanistan as a nation, a country that has gone though
the most terrible recent history", but also that
it had become an "integral part of a fast-growing
region," he said.
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