Agenda Item 7
RECONSTRUCTION OF AFGHANISTAN
( Tehran, 21-23 July, 2003 )
ECO Secretariat Background Paper
8th Consultative Meeting of
Executive Heads of Sub-Regional Organizations
Overview:
Since the return of normalcy in Afghanistan, there has been a strong realization among the international community to play its due role to stabilize economy in the war ravaged country Afghanistan and need for early reconstruction work to effect settlement of Afghan refugees returning from other countries. The former Secretary General of ECO raised the possibility of spearheading the reconstruction work in Afghanistan on behalf of international agencies and donors in his meeting with the Secretary General, Mr. Kofi Annan, in New York on November 20, 2001. Presumably, the UN Secretary General agreed with the proposal and promised to give prominent role to ECO in UNDP-led international campaign to raise funds for the reconstruction of work in Afghanistan.
Although, a decision was taken by Council of Permanent Representatives (CPR) allowing the Secretary General to attend the Tokyo Fund Raising meeting held in January this year, he could not do so. ECO member states later encouraged ECO to participate in the UNDP-led 4-member (Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and UNDP) Conference on Afghanistan held in Tehran in May 2002. The second UNDP Conference is now scheduled to be held in Kabul and UNDP has proposed that ECO should attend it.
In parallel, ECO member states addressed the issue at the monthly meetings of the Council of Permanent Representatives (CPR). Many useful ideas were floated in the CPR meetings. Member states presented some specific proposals. In response to such suggestions, the Transitional Islamic Government of Afghanistan provided a list of priority areas for ECO assistance. The same was considered seriously by the member states both in Tehran as well in capitals and the preliminary consensus among the member states indicated support for ECO’s participation in projects suggested by Afghanistan as long as these remained in conformity with the financial and technical capacity of the ECO Secretariat. There was also support among some member states for a seminar on reconstruction of Afghanistan and constitution of an “ECO Fund” for reconstruction work in Afghanistan.
The 3rd meeting of ECO Working Group of Senior Officials (WGSO) also discussed the issue in some detail. The deliberations demonstrated the desire of the member states to help Afghanistan in a more meaningful manner. Iran was tasked to prepare preliminary document on ECO Fund for Afghanistan which can be circulated among member states for their views. In parallel, committee of Senior ECO staff was proposed to be set-up to look at issues related to the ECO’s participation in the reconstruction of Afghanistan. The Council of Permanent Representatives (CPR) was proposed to follow-up the matter.
In pursuance of the recommendations of the 3rd meeting of WGSO, a Committee of Senior ECO officials was set-up and tasked to produce a paper incorporating the views received from the member states and the decisions taken during the CPR meetings as well as the conclusions of the UNDP meeting.
Secretariat’s preliminary concept paper:
In light of the above, a strategic preliminary paper on ECO’ participation in reconstruction of Afghanistan was prepared by the Secretariat. The paper envisaged the following:
a) Priority projects/Training Courses
Afghanistan’s priority areas are transport, telecom, trade, agriculture, education and health. In each area a list of specific priority projects to be implemented with the help of ECO should be prepared and forwarded to the Secretariat by Afghanistan. To avoid duplication, the projects being implemented through bilateral cooperation with member states may also be separated either by Afghanistan or by the concerned member states.
Once the specific priority projects to be implemented with the help of ECO as regional organization become available (from the Government of Afghanistan), the ECO Secretariat will try to prepare bankable project proposals. This will need specialized work which can only be done with the help of UNDP/UNCTAD and other agencies/consultants.
The most important task here is to determine the financing sources of these projects. To finance the priority projects and the activities connected thereto, the Secretariat may consider two sources of financing; the internal source could either be the joint ECO Fund or a special fund in ECO’s annual budget for this purpose; the second source could be the international donors/countries whose decisions will largely depend on the quality of bankable project documents.
ECO may help in arranging training facilities for experts from Afghanistan from the member states and also seek support from specialized agencies and organizations in this context. Nevertheless, the Transitional Islamic Government of Afghanistan may consider the following offers/views made by some member states:
Iran
Organization of a training course in management for Afghan officials to upgrade their skills. This was offered by Iran.
Pakistan
Pakistan offered to assist in the reconstruction of Afghanistan in the following areas:
i. Telecommunications;
ii. Road network;
iii. Water and sanitation infrastructure;
iv. Energy;
v. Defence (mines sweeping, etc.);
vi. Legal experts;
vii. Financial sector;
viii. Agriculture – recovery and food security;
ix. Irrigation (medium and small dams);
x. Information Technology facilities;
xi. Education;
xii. Health.
Turkey
The salient points of the views of Turkey on ECO’s participation in reconstruction of Afghanistan are as follows:
i. ECO may work on a project which will be determined in accordance with the priorities of the Government of Afghanistan and will be prepared by the same Government;
ii. The project field should not coincide with those other projects which will be earmarked and implemented by the relevant international organizations and donor countries with a view to preventing duplication;
iii. The project should be chosen among the fields which ECO has enough expertise;
iv. The project cost should be compatible with the financial capability of ECO;
v. It should be proven to be a feasible project;
vi. The project work in ECO should be launched and supported by funds, to be provided by the international financial organizations or donor countries devoted to these purpose.
Uzbekistan
In order to establish peace in Afghanistan and reconstruct its economy in the shortest period of time, Uzbekistan considered vehicular traffic to be urgently arranged on the entire territory of Afghanistan.
For these purposes, the existing auto routes, bridges and other infrastructure should be reconstructed in the shortest terms. Required material and technical base as well as the sources of raw material for engineering maintenance during the construction of infrastructure including auto routes, bridges, irrigation and land-reclamation networks, aerodromes, are available in Uzbekistan to accomplish the above-mentioned reconstruction and building materials such as cement, metal, any kinds of reinforced concrete items, bitumen, inert materials (stone, crushed stone), etc.
Kyrgyzstan
The Government of the Kyrgyz Republic also informed the Secretariat about their projects and programmes to take part in the reconstruction of Afghanistan in various fields.
b) Ongoing ECO Programmes/Projects
ECO may reorient its existing programmes/projects in a way that those events/projects covering Afghanistan may be given priority or the programmes which do not include Afghanistan, if possible, may be expanded to include Afghanistan.
Therefore, the concerned ECO Directorates may review their programmes in the light of the above to involve ECO in the reconstruction of Afghanistan.
c) ECO Seminar on Reconstruction of Afghanistan
There is a need to indicate whether the proposed seminar with participation of international organizations can help expedite the constitution of the ECO Fund and participation of the member states in the reconstruction work in Afghanistan. Perhaps, the seminar may be used to announce the setting-up of the ECO Fund and offers of financial assistance.
d) Establishment of Joint ECO Fund
In view of the divergent opinion among the member states on this issue, no concrete action could be taken to prepare a suitable modality for the establishment of ECO Fund for Afghanistan at the ECO Secretariat. In accordance with the recommendation of the 3rd WGSO meeting, the IR of Iran forwarded to the Secretariat a preliminary document on the establishment of a Joint ECO Fund, copy of which is enclosed herewith. Any further action towards the establishment of ECO Fund will be taken in the light of the recommendations of the 4th WGSO and decision of the 12th COM.
e) Dissemination of information about Afghanistan to member states
The Secretariat may play an effective role in dissemination of information about new arrangements, regulations, laws etc. in the priority areas for reconstruction in Afghanistan. The Embassy of Afghanistan in Tehran may regularly convey to ECO the information which it deems necessary to be circulated among the member states.
f) Establishment of ECO Trade and Development Bank (TDB)
The agreement on establishment of Trade and Development Bank (TDB) has entered into force and the Bank is expected to be established and become operational this year.
The ECO Bank, upon its establishment, may provide concessional financing facilities for implementation of Afghanistan priority projects. The Bank may also cooperate with those international donors who have already committed assistance to reconstruction of Afghanistan like World Bank (WB), Asian Development Bank (ADB), UNDP and other donor countries. The Bank may establish a special fund to help Afghanistan.
In the light of the above, early establishment and operationalization of the ECO Trade and Development Bank (TDB) will be helpful for the reconstruction work in Afghanistan. This may be considered as a long term measure for sustaining reconstruction drive started under the supervision of UN agencies.
g) Focal Points of ECO and member states
The Committee comprising senior ECO staff on the reconstruction of Afghanistan has been established at the ECO Secretariat. The Directorate of Project Research will function as the focal point of the Committee. The member states may inform their focal points regarding the proposed ECO plan of action for the reconstruction work in Afghanistan for smooth cooperation/coordination between the ECO Secretariat and the member states.
An internship programme for Afghan experts in the fields of transport, communications, trade, energy, health, project formulation, etc. may be established at the ECO Secretariat to facilitate the involvement of Afghanistan in the ECO activities. The Secretariat should finance their travel and lodging expenses through the ECO Special Support Fund (SSF).
h) Cooperation with other int’l organizations
An Action Plan based on the deliberations of the member states on the points raised in this paper, after due approval from the concerned ECO organs, should be sent to the relevant int’l organizations i.e. UNDP, ADB, IDB, WB, etc. to inform them about ECO’s position on the issue and seek their contributions/cooperation. In this regard, experts from the member states should help the ECO staff prepare bankable documents to raise the possibility of getting international funding for the proposed ECO Plan of Action.
The member states were requested to consider this preliminary paper with a view to come-up with specific suggestions how to evolve a pragmatic ECO Plan of Action for reconstruction in Afghanistan. In this respect, the member states were requested to keep in mind the financial implications accruing from their proposed ECO Plan of Action as well as the technical capacity of ECO to carry out the agreed Plan of Action.
Visit of the Secretary General to Kabul, Afghanistan, February 13-18, 2003
On February 13-18, 2003, the Secretary General upon an official invitation of the Government of Afghanistan, visited Kabul to discuss ECO’s participation in the reconstruction of Afghanistan. The Secretary General held meetings with the Foreign Minister as well as other Ministers of Afghanistan i.e. Trade, Transport, Communications, Mines and Industry, Public Works, Reconstruction and Urban Development and Housing. He was also received by the President of Afghanistan. Following the visit, the Secretary General submitted the following report incorporating recommendations to the decision-making organs of ECO.
Objectives of the visit
The main objectives of the visit were (i) to follow up the implementation of the decisions of the 12th meeting of the Council of Ministers and the 7th meeting of Summit, held in Istanbul in October 2002 regarding ECO’s participation in the reconstruction of Afghanistan, (ii) to find out the priorities of Afghanistan and mechanism/Plan of Action on how ECO can participate in assisting its priorities. In addition to the main objectives, it was the first visit of the ECO Secretary General to Afghanistan after it became a member of ECO, eleven years ago.
The donors (international organizations, countries) are carrying out part of their commitments in a slow manner. Moreover, the donors are focusing on humanitarian concerns and urgent basic needs of the Afghan people.
The implementation of the priority projects and their pre-feasibility/feasibility studies are experiencing lack of funding. The main sources for these could come from international organizations or some donor countries. Small feasibility studies could be financed by ECO.
The first visit of the Secretary General to Kabul promoted the publicity of ECO in Afghanistan.
On bilateral level, the member states are helping Afghanistan. ECO was requested to finance/support projects not currently financed by international organizations/donors.
TTA has not been signed by Afghanistan while TTFA was signed by Afghanistan but not ratified yet.
The most important area for ECO to help Afghanistan is to offer training courses in communications sector and some other areas where ECO member states have the facilities. In this respect ECO was requested to provide training for technicians to maintain buses and construction of rail/bus terminals.
ECO was asked by the President of Afghanistan to be part of the Afghanistan Development Framework (ADF).
Bilateral assistance of the member states to Afghanistan should not only be continued but also be promoted. The concerned member states should inform the Secretariat about their bilateral assistance to Afghanistan for informing the member states and inclusion in ECO publications. The member states, in their respect, are expected to consult the annexures of the main report.
The Secretariat will prepare the Plan of Action involving ECO participation in the Reconstruction of Afghanistan. The member states should play their due role in the activities to take place under the framework of the proposed Plan of Action.
ECO may help Afghanistan in financing some of the pre-feasibility/feasibility studies of the priority projects out of its Feasibility Fund. CPR may consider the projects already submitted by the Secretariat. These meet the approval of the Afghan government. Studies and training facilities could also be considered in energy, mines development sector, harmonization of regulatory framework, customs regulations and privatization programme.
ECO may arrange training courses for the Afghan officials in various sectors and may finance some experts from the member states to go to Afghanistan and train Afghan technicians in the most required areas.
Afghanistan may be requested to sign TTA and ratify TTFA. So Afghanistan may participate actively in ECO intra-trade. The Secretariat has conveyed to the Government of Afghanistan the two texts of the agreements for consideration.
Afghan Government expressed the readiness to hold the 2nd UNDP led meeting. ECO Secretariat would be informed about the date and the level of participation of the meeting in due course.
ECO should establish its Special Fund to assist in implementation of priority projects of Afghanistan. This would help either ECO to finance projects for Afghanistan independently or jointly with other international organizations. This will also promote the image of ECO in the world. ECO should participate in the Tokyo Fund and try to raise additional international assistance to beef up the ECO Fund.
ECO should facilitate Afghanistan’s participation in the ECO Cable Fibre Optic Network.
The Afghanistan government is requested to inform the ECO Secretariat about ADF and formally invite ECO to the meetings and activities of ADF.
The participation of Afghanistan to ECO activities must be enhanced. Cooperation between the Embassy of Afghanistan in Tehran and the ECO Secretariat should be on regular basis at higher level.
ECO 7th Summit, 12th COM and 13th COM meetings
12th COM meeting, Istanbul, October 12-14, 2002
In the spirit of cooperation and solidarity, the Ministers welcomed the return of normalcy in Afghanistan and emphasized the need to promptly address the issues of rehabilitation, reconstruction and development for the welfare of the Afghan people. They appreciated the unanimous support among the member states for this purpose and welcomed the efforts of the member states of Economic Cooperation Organization in devising a Plan of Action to promote international and regional participation in this plan.
They further noted that the member states had presented a number of concrete and specific proposals, in priority areas of the government of Afghanistan. In this respect, the Ministers expressed their appreciation of the assistance announced/provided by ECO member states bilaterally to the brotherly state of Afghanistan. They expressed their belief that these measures would go a long way in restoring peace and stability in Afghanistan which is the sine qua non for further cooperation in the ECO region.
While taking note of the offers of training facilities/scholarships in various fields from some member states, the Government of Afghanistan was requested to avail of these offers at the earliest.
The Ministers supported the establishment of a Special ECO Fund to assist early implementation of the reconstruction projects in Afghanistan keeping in mind the technical and financial capabilities of the member states and priorities of the Afghan government. In this respect, they noted that the Afghan government had identified Transport, Trade, Agriculture, Education, Health and Telecommunications as priority areas.
They further decided that the financial experts from the member states would be invited to finalize the financial modality for the establishment and subsequent operation of the Special ECO Fund for reconstruction projects in Afghanistan. In this regard these experts would present their recommendations to the Ministers for final approval.
The Ministers also called for arranging an ECO seminar on the reconstruction of Afghanistan in order to come up with realistic and concrete recommendations for raising ECO’s collective assistance programme for Afghanistan. The national coordinators dealing with the subject in member states could also be invited to participate in the seminar to coordinate a region-wide ECO assistance programme.
The Ministers welcomed the idea of utilization of ECO Feasibility Fund for preparation of feasibility studies for the reconstruction projects and directed the Secretariat to approach international donor agencies for financing these projects.
In this regard, the Ministers urged the Secretariat to prepare a Plan of Action taking due note of the various proposals of the member states to be forwarded to the relevant regional and international organizations such as UNDP, ADB, IDB, UNDCP and WB to raise additional funds for the proposed reconstruction projects. The Secretariat was also asked to use its technical expertise to prepare, where needed, bankable documents to facilitate the acceptance of project profiles for funding by international agencies.
The Ministers directed the Secretariat to effectively disseminate information, as provided by the government of Afghanistan, on new regulations, laws, etc. in the defined priority areas, for reconstruction in Afghanistan to facilitate participation by the member states as well as the regional and international donors in the reconstruction work in Afghanistan.
7th ECO Summit, Istanbul, October 14, 2002.
The 7th ECO Summit meeting declared their support for the Islamic State of Afghanistan’s efforts to restore peace and stability in the country to encourage effective participation of the international community in their campaign to launch reconstruction work in its war-ravaged country. They supported the efforts for reconstruction of Afghanistan for realizing concrete projects in line with the national priorities of the Transitional Islamic Government of Afghanistan by establishing ECO Fund within the possible financial/budgetary modalities acceptable to the member states.
13th COM meeting , Bishkek, June 11, 2003
The Council noted the broad approval among the member states for the Plan of Action prepared by the Secretariat for the reconstruction of Afghanistan in accordance with the decisions of the 12th COM and the 7th Summit and, inter-alia, took the following decision by joint Bishkek Communiqué.
“The Council appreciated as a sign of solidarity the support extended by the member states to the Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan in its efforts to carry out reconstruction projects. The Council requested the member states to urge the international community to remain engaged in Afghanistan to ensure peace and stability which would not be possible without the reconstruction and rehabilitation of Afghanistan. In this respect, the Council asked the member states to take effective steps for the early convening of the Financial Experts’ meeting to finalize the modalities for establishment of ECO Special Fund for Reconstruction of Afghanistan and implementation of those programmes in the Plan of Action which enjoy the support of the member states for reconstruction in Afghanistan. The Council urged the member states to support the efforts being made by the Government of Afghanistan for promotion of peace and stability in Afghanistan, which is vital for the economic development of the region.”
ECO Plan of Action (2003-2007)
The Plan of Action adopted by the 13th COM meeting contains the following deliberations:
Preamble:
The 12th Council of Ministers and the Istanbul Declaration, inter alia, focused on reconstruction of Afghanistan. In accordance with the decisions of the COM and subsequent recommendations towards implementation of COM directives the ECO Secretariat was tasked to prepare a Plan of Action for ECO’s participation in the reconstruction of Afghanistan.
The proposed Plan of Action in view of the capacity and resources of the ECO Secretariat has to be modest but reflective of the deep sense of solidarity shown by the member states towards reconstruction process in Afghanistan. The Plan of Action, therefore, consists of elements deliberated by ECO decision-making organs and proposed by the member states at bilateral level or through the ECO Secretariat to the Government of Afghanistan.
Proposed actions:
(i) Financial Experts’ meeting:
The meeting as a pre-requisite to reach a consensus on the operation and modality of the ECO Special Fund must be reconvened without further delay.
(ii) Establishment of ECO Special Fund:
After the financial experts meeting, if the ECO Special Fund was decided/recommended for establishment, the member states, who volunteer to contribute, must indicate their contributions towards the proposed Fund by December 2003. On announcement of the contributions, the ECO Secretariat would open a special budget line for maintenance of the Fund and the related expenditures.
(iii) Utilization of ECO Feasibility Fund:
The Council of Permanent Representatives (CPR) will allocate funds, from the ECO Feasibility Fund, for the feasibility studies of the priority projects of Afghanistan on case-by-case basis. CPR may take decisions with regard to requests from the Afghan Government or proposals from the Secretariat endorsed by Afghanistan for launching pre-feasibility studies in areas considered priority by the Afghan Government.
The concerned Directorates would be given a period of two months per each study to prepare outlines of projects, TORs for the Consultant and preparation of bankable documents with the help of the Consultant so that the Government of Afghanistan may pursue implementation of the said projects with the relevant international organizations or from its own sources.
CPR will set aside adequate amount out of the ECO Feasibility Fund for implementation of projects (other than feasibility studies) on case-by-case basis in sectors such as transport and communications, energy, power supply, sewerage, health as well as for training of Afghan officials.
(iv) ECO Seminar on Reconstruction of Afghanistan.
The 12th meeting of Council of Ministers (COM) called for arranging an ECO seminar on the reconstruction of Afghanistan in order to come up with realistic and concrete recommendations for raising ECO’s collective assistance programme for Afghanistan. The national coordinators dealing with the subject in member states could also be invited to participate in the seminar to coordinate a region-wide ECO assistance programme.
Depending on the outcome of the aforesaid meeting on the establishment of the ECO Special Fund, the member states may decide on organizing an ECO seminar on reconstruction of Afghanistan. Thereafter, Iran in its capacity as initiator may propose a definite date for the seminar with clear indication of the scale of hospitality, working agenda and identification of international as well as regional organizations for participation.
In this respect, the ECO Secretariat would coordinate with international organizations and the main coordinator countries designated by UN for various programmes in connection with reconstruction in Afghanistan.
(v) Afghanistan’s participation in ECO events:
For at least till 2005, two participants (per event) from Afghanistan may be supported from the Special Support Fund (SSF) to attend ECO events in the priority areas namely Transport and Communications, Trade and Investment and Energy.
In this connection, special priority may be accorded to their participation in the meetings on TTFA, TTA, ECOTA and Transit Transport and Trade Facilitation Measures.
(vi) Bilateral assistance -Training courses
The member states offering bilateral training courses to Afghan nationals should indicate at the beginning of each year with full particulars of the available courses including terms and conditions for participation, scale of hospitality, beginning date and the duration of the facility. The ECO Secretariat may act as a coordinator in this respect.
(vii) Identification of focal points:
For coordination purposes, the member states are requested to identify high level central national focal points, preferably in the Ministries already associated with the subject to follow up implementation of this Plan of Action.
(viii) Duration:
This Plan of Action is expected to be completed in December 2007. A mid term review would be undertaken at the appropriate level in 2005. Furthermore, the Plan of Action and its monitoring will be included as a permanent item on the agenda of CPR, RPC, COM as well as sectoral Ministerial meetings.
In addition to a regular report to the national focal points in the member states, a comprehensive annual report on the implementation of the plan will be submitted to the Council of Ministers.
Reconstruction of Afghanistan
Since the return of normalcy in Afghanistan, there has been a strong realization among the international community to play its due role to stabilize economy in the war ravaged country Afghanistan and need for early reconstruction work to effect settlement of Afghan refugees returning from other countries.
In parallel, ECO member states addressed the issue at the monthly meetings of the Council of Permanent Representatives (CPR). Many useful ideas were floated in the CPR meetings. Member states presented some specific proposals.
The ECO Working Group of Senior Officials (WGSO) also discussed the issue in some detail. In pursuance of the recommendations of the meeting of WGSO, a Committee of Senior ECO officials was set-up and tasked to produce a paper incorporating the views received from the member states and the decisions taken during the CPR meetings.
A strategic preliminary paper on ECO’ participation in reconstruction of Afghanistan was prepared by the Secretariat. The paper envisaged the following:
a) Priority projects/Training Courses
To finance the priority projects and the activities for Afghanistan, the Secretariat may consider two sources of financing; the internal source could either be the joint ECO Fund or a special fund in ECO’s annual budget for this purpose; the second source could be the international donors/countries whose decisions will largely depend on the quality of bankable project documents.
The member states i.e. Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan offered their facilities to Afghanistan in various fields.
b) Ongoing ECO Programmes/Projects
ECO determined to reorient its existing programmes/projects in a way that those events/projects covering Afghanistan may be given priority or the programmes which do not include Afghanistan, if possible, may be expanded to include Afghanistan.
c) ECO Seminar on Reconstruction of Afghanistan
Organizing an ECO seminar with the participation of international organizations can help expedite the constitution of the ECO Fund and participation of the member states in the reconstruction work in Afghanistan.
d) Establishment of Joint ECO Fund
Action towards the establishment of Joint ECO Fund was referred to COM meetings for decision.
e) Dissemination of information about Afghanistan to member states
The Secretariat committed itself to play an effective role in dissemination of information about new arrangements, regulations, laws etc. in the priority areas for reconstruction in Afghanistan.
f) Establishment of ECO Trade and Development Bank (TDB)
The ECO Bank, upon its establishment, may provide concessional financing facilities for implementation of Afghanistan priority projects. The Bank may also cooperate with those international donors who have already committed assistance to reconstruction of Afghanistan like World Bank (WB), Asian Development Bank (ADB), UNDP and other donor countries.
g) Focal Points of ECO and the member states
The member states were asked to inform their focal points to the Secretariat regarding the proposed ECO plan of action for the reconstruction work in Afghanistan for smooth cooperation/coordination between the ECO Secretariat and the member states.
h) Cooperation with other int’l organizations
An Action Plan based on the deliberations of the member states on the points raised in this paper, after due approval from the concerned ECO organs, should be sent to the relevant int’l organizations i.e. UNDP, ADB, IDB, WB, etc. to inform them about ECO’s position on the issue and seek their contributions/cooperation.
ECO 7th Summit, 12th COM, Istanbul, October 12-14, 2003
The 12th COM meeting:
(i) Decided that the financial experts from the member states would be invited to finalize the financial modality for the establishment and subsequent operation of the Special ECO Fund for reconstruction projects in Afghanistan.
(ii) Called for arranging an ECO seminar on the reconstruction of Afghanistan in order to come up with realistic and concrete recommendations for raising ECO’s collective assistance programme for Afghanistan.
(iii) Welcomed the idea of utilization of ECO Feasibility Fund for preparation of feasibility studies for the reconstruction projects and directed the Secretariat to approach international donor agencies for financing these projects.
(iv) Urged the Secretariat to prepare a Plan of Action taking due note of the various proposals of the member states to be forwarded to the relevant regional and international organizations such as UNDP, ADB, IDB, UNDCP and WB to raise additional funds for the proposed reconstruction projects.
(v) Asked the Secretariat to use its technical expertise to prepare, where needed, bankable documents to facilitate the acceptance of project profiles for funding by international agencies.
The 7th ECO Summit meeting:
Declared their support for Afghanistan’s efforts to restore peace and stability in the country to encourage effective participation of the international community in their campaign to launch reconstruction work in its war-ravaged country. They supported the efforts for reconstruction of Afghanistan for realizing concrete projects in line with the national priorities of Afghanistan by establishing ECO Fund within the possible financial/budgetary modalities acceptable to the member states.
Visit of the Secretary General to Kabul, Afghanistan, February 13-18, 2003
On February 13-18, 2003, the Secretary General upon an official invitation of the Government of Afghanistan, visited Kabul and held meetings with the Foreign Minister as well as other Ministers of Afghanistan i.e. Trade, Transport, Communications, Mines and Industry, Public Works, Reconstruction and Urban Development and Housing. The main objectives of the visit were (i) to follow up the implementation of the decisions of the 12th meeting of the Council of Ministers and the 7th meeting of Summit, held in Istanbul in October 2002 regarding ECO’s participation in the reconstruction of Afghanistan, (ii) to find out the priorities of Afghanistan and mechanism/Plan of Action on how ECO can participate in assisting its priorities.
The Secretary General informed the member states about the conclusions and recommendations of his visit as follows:
Conclusions:
(i) The donors (international organizations, countries) are carrying out part of their commitments in a slow manner. Moreover, the donors are focusing on humanitarian concerns and urgent basic needs of the Afghan people.
(ii) The implementation of the priority projects and their pre-feasibility/feasibility studies are experiencing lack of funding. The main sources for these could come from international organizations or some donor countries. Small feasibility studies could be financed by ECO.
(iii) TTA has not been signed by Afghanistan while TTFA was signed by Afghanistan but not ratified yet.
(iv) The most important area for ECO to help Afghanistan is to offer training courses in communications sector and some other areas where ECO member states have the facilities. In this respect ECO was requested to provide training for technicians to maintain buses and construction of rail/bus terminals.
Recommendations:
(i) Bilateral assistance of the member states to Afghanistan should not only be continued but also be promoted.
(ii) The Secretariat will prepare the Plan of Action involving ECO participation in the Reconstruction of Afghanistan for the member states to play their due role in the activities to take place under the framework of the proposed Plan of Action.
(iii) ECO may help Afghanistan in financing some of the pre-feasibility/feasibility studies of the priority projects out of its Feasibility Fund.
(iv) ECO may arrange training courses for the Afghan officials in various sectors and may finance some experts from the member states to go to Afghanistan and train Afghan technicians in the most required areas.
(v) Afghanistan may be requested to sign TTA and ratify TTFA.
(vi) ECO should establish its Special Fund to assist in implementation of priority projects of Afghanistan. This would help either ECO to finance projects for Afghanistan independently or jointly with other international organizations.
13th COM meeting , Bishkek, June 11, 2003
The Council approved the Plan of Action prepared by the Secretariat for the reconstruction of Afghanistan and, inter-alia, took a decision by the joint Bishkek Communiqué with regard to reaffirm ECO’s solidarity.
ECO Plan of Action (2003-2007)
The following actions were proposed in the Plan of Action adopted by the 13th COM meeting:
(i) Financial Experts’ meeting:
The meeting as a pre-requisite to reach a consensus on the operation and modality of the ECO Special Fund must be reconvened without further delay.
(ii) Establishment of ECO Special Fund:
(iii) Utilization of ECO Feasibility Fund:
The Council of Permanent Representatives (CPR) will allocate funds, from the ECO Feasibility Fund, for the feasibility studies of the priority projects of Afghanistan and for implementation of projects (other than feasibility studies) in priority sectors.
(iv) ECO Seminar on Reconstruction of Afghanistan.
Depending on the outcome of the aforesaid meeting on the establishment of the ECO Special Fund, the member states may decide on organizing an ECO seminar on reconstruction of Afghanistan. In this respect, the ECO Secretariat would coordinate with international organizations and the main coordinator countries designated by UN for various programmes in connection with reconstruction in Afghanistan.
(v) Afghanistan’s participation in ECO events:
For at least till 2005, two participants (per event) from Afghanistan may be supported from the Special Support Fund (SSF) to attend ECO events in the priority areas.
(vi) Bilateral assistance -Training courses
The member states offering bilateral training courses to Afghan nationals should indicate at the beginning of each year with full particulars of the available courses.
(vii) Identification of focal points:
For coordination purposes, the member states are requested to identify high level central national focal points, already associated with the subject to follow up implementation of this Plan of Action.
(viii) Duration:
This Plan of Action is expected to be completed in December 2007.
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