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Abu Dhabi: Kabul proposes to showcase its strategic plan with focus on security and war on drug trade at the Afghanistan international donors meeting in Paris on Tuesday.
"It is a chance for Afghan government to present its national strategic plan for the next five years to the donors and the international community," Abdul Farid Zikria, Afghanistan's ambassador to the UAE, told Gulf News in an exclusive interview.
Sixty six states are taking part in the conference in addition to 11 international organisations.
"The most important part of the plan is the security aspect," said Zikria. "The effectiveness of the army and the national police is a major concern at the moment to enable us to stand on our feet."
Also the government is concerned about the narcotics trade and the flow of drugs from Afghanistan, he said.
In terms of economic developments, "the current concern is basically about generating power and developing the agriculture."
He added: "Afghanistan has potentials in both areas. But we need to focus on other sectors too, such as the education and human rights."
Universities
In the past six years, "huge progress" has been noticed in the education sector, he said.
"More than 6 million children are going to school and recently some 10 universities have opened. Most of them are private institutions," he said.
The five-year plan requires "about 50 billion dollars" (Dh184 billion) to implement. "We hope to raise half of this amount during the conference or at least a significant part of it," said Zikria.
The UAE has been participating in the Afghanistan reconstruction process for the past six years, he noted. "Over 150 million dollars were spent on different projects, mostly humanitarian and recently UAE has also started funding infrastructures projects."
"In Kabul, the UAE sponsored the building of 200 houses for the poor," the ambassador said. Similar projects are being planned in other cities in addition to building hospitals, clinics, schools, mosques and community centres.
Zikria said there have been encouraging contacts with the private sector to promote investing in Afghanistan.
The security situation should not be a source of concern, he argued.
"The security problems exist only in the southern part of the country, near the border areas," he said.
Tribal areas
"We hope with the new change in the Pakistani government, this problem would be reduced.
"The Taliban and Al Qaida fighters are concentrated mostly in the tribal areas of Pakistan. They come to Afghanistan to attack and go back to Pakistan," he claimed.
"We are not saying that they are protected by Pakistani officials but obviously they [the fighters] are there"
He described the recent "peace deal" between the Pakistani government and a group led by Baitullah Mahsud as "worrying".
"Pakistan has all the right to deal with any group inside its territory but that should not be at the expense of Afghanistan's security."
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