Opening Remarks by EAM at the 2nd RECC on Afghanistan, New Delhi, November 18-19, 2006

Your Excellency Mr. Hamid Karzai, the President of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan; Honorable Prime Minister of India Dr Manmohan Singh; Your Excellency Dr Rangin Dadfar Spanta, the Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan; Honorable Ministers, Excellencies, Heads and members of delegations of the participating countries and of international organisations; participants of the Regional Business Conference; members of diplomatic community; media representatives, ladies and gentlemen. We are indeed happy and honoured with your presence here this morning. You are welcome to India and I wish you a very pleasant stay in our country. It is my privilege to welcome you all to the Second Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan.

2. I thank you for your participation, which is indicative of the high priority attached by your governments to activities relating to interactive regional economic cooperation. In particular, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to His Excellency Mr. Hamid Karzai, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, who is leading a strong Afghan delegation comprising of several key Ministers for this Conference, reflecting Afghanistan’s firm commitment to be more fully integrated with the region in all respects.

3. Regional cooperation is being increasingly seen as an important instrument to further economic development, impacting also on physical security, both in Afghanistan and the region as a whole. Regional cooperation has also been identified as one of the key principles of the Afghanistan Compact adopted at the London Conference on Afghanistan, January, 2006. Among the benchmarks it is stated that by end-2010, Afghanistan and its neighbours will achieve lower transit time through Afghanistan by means of cooperative border management and other trade and transit agreements; increase the amount of power available through power purchase agreements; and, reach agreements that will enable Afghanistan to benefit from greater mobility of goods and services. Fostering greater regional connectivity will, indeed, help countries improve productivity in conformity with natural comparative advantage, benefit from complementarities, and thereby increase output, trade and consumer welfare.

4. The present Conference is a follow-up to, and builds on the first Regional Economic Co-operation Conference held in Kabul on December 4-5, 2005. It also draws upon the important work of other regional gatherings in recent years, including inter alia, the Good Neighbourly Relations Declaration (2002), Berlin Agreement (2003), Dubai Declaration (2003), Bishkek Conference (2004), London Conference (2006), ECO Summit (2006), Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit (2006) and SAARC Ministerial Meeting (2006).

5. The themes of the conference, identified in consultation with all regional partners, are trade facilitation and transport; investment trade and business potential; electricity trade and energy development, including renewable sources of energy and prospects for TAPI pipeline, as well as agriculture and agro-development. Capacity building will be taken up as a cross-cutting issue in all the themes. Alignment of policies in these areas is expected to lay a strong foundation for interactive economic growth and development of the region, with positive spin-offs for all.

6. In recognition of the importance of regional business linkages, Regional Business Conference is also being held concurrently, with the participation of top business leaders from the region. The business component is being led by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Confederation of Indian Industry and Associated Chambers of Commerce, in partnership with the Afghanistan Investment Support Agency. Discussions will focus on measures to enhance trade, business and investment opportunities in Afghanistan and in the region. A number of practical, commercial projects of regional relevance, which can act as a vehicle for private sector investment, will also be discussed at the business Conference.

7. This Conference is expected to make an assessment of the progress of the outcomes of the Kabul Conference; take concrete decisions on the creation of the enabling environment for further strengthening cooperation in the themes of the Conference, with focus on projects that the public and private sectors in Afghanistan and the countries of the region can participate in; spur the business sector for enhanced trade and investment in the region; and promote interactive economic integration, as a vehicle for easing of regional political and security tensions.

8. I am confident that discussions of this Conference will be productive and lead to concrete outcomes, that can impact strongly on the growth prospects of the region in an incremental manner.

Thank you.