Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
The Collective Voice of The Muslim World
Date: 03/11/2010
ISTANBUL, REPUBLIC OF TURKEY, 3 NOVEMBER 2010 BISMILLAHIRRAHMANIRAH?M Your Excellency Minister Davutoglu, Your Excellency Minister Rassoul, Honorable Ministers, Distinguished Participants, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am glad to be invited to attend the Fourth Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan (RECCA IV), taking place in Istanbul, which has steadily acquired the reputation as both a hub of global enterprise and a meeting point of the world’s major civilisations. I am also glad to hear about the holding of series of meetings on the sidelines of this conference, particularly the Academic Platform for Afghanistan where I believe fresh ideas would be put forward for prospects towards solution in Afghanistan. I would like to commend the leading role of Turkey towards achieving peace and stability in Afghanistan. This meeting is indeed very significant, as we seek to fine-tune our strategies towards the reconstruction, reconciliation and rehabilitation of Afghanistan. Peace and stability in Afghanistan, which is one of the founding members of the OIC, have always required the concerted efforts of all regional and international stakeholders, who have remained committed to peace-building and socio-economic recovery in Afghanistan. In fact, OIC would play a pivotal role in the reconciliation and reintegration process in Afghanistan, as it was the case in 1980’s. During their last meeting held in Dushanbe in May 2010, OIC Council of Foreign Ministers mandated me to appoint a Special Representative for Afghanistan and to re-establish the OIC Mission in Kabul on a permanent basis. I would also like to thank the United Arab Emirates who pledged to sponsor the OIC Special Representative as well as the OIC Mission to be established in Kabul. Today, I have the pleasure to announce that I have recently appointed Ambassador A.H.M. Moniruzzaman as the Interim Special Representative of OIC for Afghanistan. He is an experienced diplomat from Bangladesh who represented his country as Ambassador to Belgium and as Permanent Representative to European Union during his previous assignment. He also worked as the Director General of Economic Affairs at the OIC General Secretariat previously. I am confident that Ambassador Moniruzzaman will represent OIC in the best possible terms in close cooperation and coordination with the Afghan authorities and as well as the international community. As should be expected, the OIC Member States have continued to identify with the ongoing efforts at promoting peace and security in Afghanistan, through the numerous political initiatives as evident in the work of the International and OIC Contact Groups on Afghanistan. I should like to mention our pleasure that the OIC has recently been invited to take part in the International Contact Group (ICG) on Afghanistan. OIC Special Representative for Afghanistan attended for the first time the ICG meeting held in Rome on 18 October 2010. We were glad to contribute to the deliberations within the ICG. Here, I would like to express our readiness to host the next ICG meeting on Afghanistan at the OIC Headquarters in Jeddah in next few months. And, we see today’s meeting as a continuation of the traditional support and solidarity of the international community with the Government and people of Afghanistan. Accordingly, the task before this august assembly is to address various economic and developmental aspects of the Afghan peace process. Excellencies, It is widely acknowledged within the OIC circles that Afghanistan's economic recovery is contingent on the extent to which regional support could be mobilized among the OIC Member States as well as from members of the international donor's community. In this regard, such critical economic sectors as transportation, agriculture development, trade exchanges, energy, human resource and technological development are identified as crucial to the rapid socio-economic revival of Afghanistan. I would like to indicate that the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers has specifically identified infrastructure development as a priority towards achieving rapid economic rebound in Afghanistan. During its last meeting in Dushanbe last May, the CFM adopted a resolution to embark on a rail transportation project linking Dushanbe- Mazar-i Sharif-Herat. In this regard, it should be feasible to expand the scope of a similar but on-going rail project from Turkmenistan to Kazakhstan and Iran, in which the IDB is involved in financing. This new initiative will complement the ongoing arrangements by the OIC General Secretariat to adopt a special program for the comprehensive development of the Central Asian countries in the OIC. In the area of trade, the imminent take-off of the OIC Trade Preferential System will provide adequate opportunity to improve the competiveness of the Afghan economy, including wealth creation and the opening up of the economy to intra-OIC foreign direct investment. Let me, at this juncture, welcome the recent signing by Afghanistan of the OIC Agreement for Promotion, Protection and Guarantee of Investment; and General Agreement for Economic, Technical and Commercial Cooperation during the last 26th Session of the OIC Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation (COMCEC) held in Istanbul last month. This constitutes a major step which will generate the desired momentum for active economic cooperation between Afghanistan and other OIC Member States. There is no doubt that the current annual trade deficit of Afghanistan, which has attained US$ 6.7 billion can be reduced through the opportunities afforded by the OIC programme on the development of strategic commodities. In the same vein, OIC efforts in the area of poverty alleviation have featured an active engagement with Afghanistan. This is in consideration of the high Human Poverty Index (HPI) for Afghanistan, which surpassed the OIC average to reach 59.8%. In addition to the numerous funding supports by the relevant OIC institutions for the implementation of Afghanistan's national programs on food security and Agricultural development, OIC would be ready to expand the scope and content of its humanitarian and social safety nets in the health, education, water and sanitation. As I underscore, on this occasion, the readiness of the OIC and its various institutions to contribute to the mandate of this Conference, let me commend the orientation of the RECCA-IV meeting to proceed to identifying concrete developmental projects as well as credible but practical implementation and their funding mechanisms. There is no doubt that our current emphasis on developing strong cooperation with Afghanistan on the socio-economic front represents the most credible recipe for the realization of a durable peace and security in Afghanistan. It is therefore imperative that the international community should take advantage of the favourable regional and international compassion for the people of Afghanistan to mobilize the desired economic support for the immediate implementation of the various projects. I wish you all a successful deliberation and thanks for your attention. Wassalamu Alaykum wa-Rahmatullahi wa-Barakatuh
