Second Afghan Donors' Conference

Real Audio of Briefing

MR. DENIG: Good afternoon, Ambassador Johnson. Would you like to make an opening statement, sir?

AMBASSADOR JOHNSON: I'd be glad to. I presume you can see me, even though I can't see you?

We've had today a meeting in Brussels, an Afghan high-level strategic forum. It followed on a meeting that took place last Thursday and Friday in Kabul where the Afghan Ministers had an opportunity to present their budgets for the forthcoming year to the donor community’s representatives who are resident in Kabul -- the Ambassadors and representatives of eight agencies who live there and work with the Afghans all of the time.

Today's meeting was an opportunity for the Afghans to present those budgets in a capsulized form to the donor community’s representatives at a higher level, including a couple of ministers.  In particular I'd mention the Norwegian Minister for Development, who was present and made a specific comment that she wanted to be here specifically to support Afghanistan.  On the Afghan side, the Afghan Foreign Minister and Finance Minister were present and Finance Minister Ghani, made the presentation on behalf of his government, but along with him were also the Minister for Reconstruction and the Minister for Rural Reconstruction.  I think that all of us around the table felt that it was an extraordinary performance.  There were 37 states represented as well as nine international organizations, in addition to the four ministerial representatives of the Afghan Government.

In this meeting there was a brief statement by Finance Minister Ghani at the end, where he made clear that the budget that he had presented, which was in excess of $2 billion for both the development side and the recurring expenses side, had been 90 percent subscribed.

For our part, we made clear that while we had pledged $297 million at the Tokyo Donors Conference in January of 2002, we had in fact (inaudible) the year for us, which (inaudible) the past September provided 90 percent more than that, $569 million, and the fiscal year for the United States which is ongoing now, we expect to provide at least $820 million.

There are other generous contributions by other states as well, in particular those of the European Union and Japan, but this is an endeavor which has broad international support and broad international participation.  I think it's not just the United States, but it's the world community at large that wants to see Afghanistan succeed and wants to put the resources to Afghanistan and make them a (inaudible).  We've got a good partner in the government that is -- that came into office last (inaudible).  They have a great deal of work in front of them over the course of the next year to 18 months:  They will have a constitutional Loya Jirga or convention this October, and then following that in June [2004], they will have elections for a permanent government.  They have a lot of work to do between now and then, but they've got very strong leadership and they've got extremely good engagement from the international community.

There's a question in the air, I know, as to whether the United States and others will continue to pay attention to Afghanistan or be distracted by other events.  I'd make two points about that.  One is that the President of the United States, President Bush, invited President Karzai to Washington at the end of February to make precisely the point that we wouldn't forget Afghanistan, that the resources would be there, the political engagement would be there, that our military forces would be there to finish the job which we had begun, and I'd also recall a remark made by Commissioner Patton of the European Union’s Commission this afternoon, that the European Commission and the European Union states were going to be with Afghanistan for the duration.

If you have any questions, I'll be pleased to try to answer them. 

QUESTION:  Ambassador Johnson, are there any particular goals in the next fiscal year for this $820 million that's been outlined?  Are there any overriding goals?  Is the Administration still seeking to step away from humanitarian relief and more towards reconstruction?

AMBASSADOR JOHNSON:  The most resource intensive effort and the most important one that we have under way is as the lead state, lead nation for rebuilding the Afghan national army.  As President Karzai and the UN Special Representative and Secretary General, Lakhdar Brahimi, have emphasized continuously, without security there is not going to be reconstruction and a viable Afghanistan over the long term.  So we are putting a great deal of other resources into supporting the Afghan national army.  Not just training it, although that's an extremely important part, but also equipping it and sustaining it, providing it with barracks, providing it with operating expenses, so that these new troops, and there are now seven battalions, can be trained thoroughly and can interact with their own public in a very constructive way.

The initial deployment of some of the earlier battalions has been extremely encouraging.  They have been well received by their public.  They are, by any measure, the best trained and equipped and most disciplined infantry forces in Afghanistan, and we are determined to see this program through so that there is an army which can protect Afghanistan from those who might try to attack it internally or externally.  Because with Afghanistan's own security institutions, Afghanistan will have (inaudible) to protect itself over the long haul.

In addition to this effort, we also are engaged in significant reconstruction efforts now and not so much in feeding the population.  We're very proud that we played a key role in working with other members of the international community in keeping a famine from taking place in Afghanistan, particularly over the winter of 2001/2002.  And there is still requirement for significant humanitarian relief.  Two million refugees voted with their feet last year and came home.  But UNHCR expects more than a million to come home this next year.  So there is going to be a continuing requirement for support for them.

We're also providing, I think, a larger and larger proportion of our resources to the long-term reconstruction effort, whether that's reconstructing the agricultural sector with a significant amount of money, a multi-year effort in which we're investing $150 million, or if it's rebuilding -- as the President promised on September 12th, 2002 -- along with our Japanese and Saudi partners, the southern half of the ring road which links Kabul to Kandahar to Heart.  We're determined to complete the Kabul-Kandahar leg of that road, which is by far the most challenging from an engineering point of view, in time for the June 2004 elections.  That will be an engineering challenge.  We've already begun that work.  The grading is completed on the first 50-kilometer segment, and as soon as temperatures permit, we will begin laying pavement on top of that.  Bids for the remaining segments will be opened during the course of the spring, and that work will begin as well.  We had indeed hoped to finish this several weeks before those elections.  We think that would be a strong political signal that the government to which we provided support has matured democratically, has provided services to its citizens, and works in a cooperative fashion with the international community.

QUESTION:  One other question and it's related to the road you're referring to.  It's my understanding that we haven't yet seen the funds from the Saudi or the Japanese Government on that road project.  What I wanted to ask, really, is do you see a danger with a lot of opposition to U.S. policy elsewhere in the world, that this could have an impact on cooperation on reconstruction and development projects in Afghanistan?  Is that a possibility?

AMBASSADOR JOHNSON:  Two things I would say about that.  The first is, the United States has appropriated and available $80 million that the President promised as our contribution to this effort.  The Afghans are completing negotiation with the Saudis for their contribution, and I think those negotiations are concluded at this point, so those funds will soon be available.  And the Japanese are moving to do their portion of the road directly themselves as well.

It is not the lack of availability of funds.  I think it's just that if we moved more quickly than anyone else, it's because of our situation, knowing more about the security challenge being able to move more quickly.  And also understanding, I think, at the highest levels in the U.S. Government how important it was to show actual work on construction on a major project as soon as possible, in order to provide the political stability that that brings with it.  I think our Japanese partners are moving into this well.  They have different procedures and different ways of going about this, and we're all having to do things differently than we normally would, because we're bound and determined to do this quickly.

They tell us now, the Japanese, that they will have equipment on the ground by the end of April and they will begin construction soon thereafter, and they are aiming at the same target that we are.  They want to finish this road as well, in time for the new election.  It's a very important road economically because it will link Kabul to Kandahar and then down to Quetta and to the port at Karachi, in other words, enabling the people in Kabul and the government to more economically bring foodstuffs and other goods in, as well as [to assist] the export industry.  It will also be an extraordinarily significant link when other roads are built in Afghanistan to the north, linking central Asia for the first time in modern history to trading routes north and south.  So that the countries of central Asia, whether it's Tajikistan or Uzbekistan in particular, won't have to depend on all of their goods coming all the way across the Russian Federation and the Baltic States and exporting their goods in that direction; they'll also have an alternative of importing and exporting goods due south to the Indian Ocean.  And we believe that that type of economic benefit is going to be an extraordinary spur not just to the economy in Afghanistan, but also, we hope, to regional cooperation, which is so important for a vibrant economy in the region, for Afghanistan, for the central Asians that can support their population.

QUESTION:  You mentioned on the donor's conference, you mentioned Chris Patten's remarks and that you were pleased by Europe's commitment.  What about from the other -- the other donor countries and organizations?  Do you have a response to what they had pledged and is the United States pleased with their efforts?

AMBASSADOR JOHNSON:  What today's meeting was about was not so much a pledging conference, but it was an opportunity for donors to hear what the Afghan government was presenting as its budget for the forthcoming year.  But I have to say that Finance Minister Ghani told the press at the conclusion of this meeting that 90 percent of the $2.25 billion in these budgets had been committed.  And so he is confident that the funds are available and that that 10 percent only gives him a challenge for the funds that he needs to meet the budget that he has outlined.

We're also committed to working with the Afghans in order to increase their ability to self-finance this project.  It is quite unusual, in fact, for the international community not to support the new development and new construction, but also to support the recurring expenses of the government, the salaries for the teachers and for the policemen and for civil servants.  The operating expenses of the government bureaucracy, that's a fairly unusual thing for the international community to step up and do.  But that's because Afghanistan is an unusual case.  But that can't go on forever, of course.  And so one of the things we are working with the Afghans on is providing them with development of a border police force, with development of a police force, with development of technical assistance so that they can more effectively collect tariffs at their borders and have a functioning tax system, so they can produce the revenue they need for their recurring expenses and we can work with them exclusively we hope in the not-too-distant future on the development request, which is substantial.

Afghanistan has endured almost a quarter century of war.  It was not a highly developed country before then.  There is a great deal of reconstruction that needs to be done, but there is also a lot of construction of human capital that we need to assist them with so that they can take their place in a 21st century economy.

MR. DENIG:  All right, well, thank you very much, Ambassador Johnson.  I think there are no further questions on our end.  We really appreciate this opportunity.