Progress and Pitfalls of “Peace-Building”

in Afghanistan continues....

The Government has established the Afghanistan Investment

Support Agency (AISA) to provide a one-stop shop for investors and

commenced the process of establishing a National Export Promotion

Agency. It provides investment specific services. AISA has registered

several private investment companies, leading to the creation of over

60,000 new jobs. In 2004, private sector investment stood at $ 614

million and had created over 100,000 jobs. AISA has developed plans for

the first new industrial parks, which are under construction in three

locations. Licit exports net of re-exports stand at $ 471 million for

70 2004/5.

The Government has launched an internationally supported

counter-narcotics strategy known as National Drug Control Strategy

(NDCS) that reduced the land area under opium poppy cultivation by an

estimated 21 percent in 2004/5, though production remained at almost the same level due to high yields. Counter Narcotics (CN) has been at the forefront of the Government’s activities following the overthrow of the Taliban. The “Bonn Agreement” of 5 December 2001, requested the Interim Authority and the Loya Jirga to “cooperate with the international

community in the fight against ... drugs and organized crime.”

The purpose of the NDCS, the first version of which was issued in 2003, is to

provide a strategic framework to inform and direct the allocation of

resources in support of the Government’s CN effort. In the wake of the

2004 Presidential and 2005 Parliamentary elections, and the creation of

the Ministry of Counter Narcotics (MCN), the strategic direction of the

governments’ CN policy has been based on lessons learned and consultation with narcotics and development experts.

To be continued....