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China offers US$15m aid to Afghanistan
(China Daily)
Updated: 2004-04-01 22:55
The Chinese Government pledged Thursday that China will offer US$15
million to Afghanistan this year for its reconstruction, and will also
participate in a series of reconstruction projects in Afghanistan.
Addressing the International Conference on Afghanistan, Foreign Minister Li
Zhaoxing said China will offer US$15 million to Afghanistan this year, following
US$47 million in aid last year, under a 2002 commitment of US$150 million in
donations within five years.
"The rest will soon be put in place," Li said, adding that China has decided
to cancel all the Afghan government's currently due debts and signed an
agreement to that effect with the Afghan Government during the conference.
Li said China will offer material assistance worth US$1 million for the
upcoming election in Afghanistan, including tents, photocopiers and lighting
equipment. China will also engage in local police training and regional drug
control co-operation there, he added.
Referring to the construction of infrastructure in Afghanistan, Li said the
Kabul Republic Hospital contracted by China is going smoothly as is an
irrigation project on the Parwan River.
Li said China will encourage more domestic companies to open businesses in
Afghanistan, and pledged to help train Afghan diplomats and professionals in
other fields.
Li appreciated the progress Afghanistan has made in rebuilding the country
under the Bonn Agreement.
"From the interim government to the present transitional one, from the
Emergency Loya Jirga to the present constitutional body, from the adoption of
the constitution to the upcoming elections, the Bonn process is well organized,"
Li said at an international conference on Afghanistan, which opened here on
Wednesday. At the event officials are assessing progress in Afghan
reconstruction and gathering more aid for the war-torn country.
The Bonn process was launched at a similar international conference on
Afghanistan's reconstruction in November 2001.
Li stressed that an early and proper solution to the Afghan issue is
important to regional stability and development.
"The Bonn process is a development path that would fit the national
conditions of Afghanistan," Li said.
He urged both the Afghan people and the international community to "maintain
the spirit of the Bonn process" and "continue our efforts along such path."
"The top task is to establish a broadly based and representative government,
which accommodates the interests of all ethnic groups through free and fair
elections," he emphasized.
Co-ordination is another guarantee for peace in Afghanistan, he said. A
unique feature of the Bonn process is the partnership between the Afghan
government and the international community, Li said.
Li reiterated China's support for the role of the UN and said that China
would always be a friend of the Afghan people.
"The Afghans can always find a trustworthy neighbor and a friend. That is
China and the Chinese people," the minister said.
About 700 delegates from 56 countries and numerous international
organizations, including the UN and NATO , are attending the two-day conference
in Berlin.
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