WASHINGTON (PAN):

Afghanistan's top diplomat in the United Sates has said his country needed an average 3 to 5 billion US dollars per annum for the next five years to deliver services and better lives to the Afghans.

On an average Afghanistan would need something between $ 3 to $ 5 billion a year to improve delivery of services and to provide better lives to the Afghans. All of this does not need to have to some from the United States," ambassador Said T Jawad, told the Pajhwok Afghan News in an interview.

Jawad welcomed the recent decision of the Japanese Government to provide $5 billion of the critical foreign aid to Afghanistan and hoped that more

As part of the compact, both the amount of the assistance necessary and the modalities of how this money should be spent would be further discussed and outlined, he said, adding that the building the infrastructure and providing better governance is crucial for the country and its people. So the money spent in the development cannot be separated from the money spent in the field of security.

Jawad said the people and government of Afghanistan hopes that like Japan other world powers including the US and regional countries would come forward with significant contribution for the rebuilding of Afghanistan and channel all ogf these resources through the budget of the Afghan government.

One of the major complaints during the previous years has been that most of the international aid to Afghanistan has been channeled through the non-governmental organizations. Noting that the commitment of the US and its European allies are strong, he said: If we improve, the delivery mechanism and ensure that this, money will be spent  properly for thr benefit of the Afghan people and the foreign tax payers, we would be able to receive more money because they are also increasing the capacity of the Afghan government to absorb more assistance and capacity.

When asked about the role of Richard Holbrooke, the Special US Envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Jawad said he has put together an incredible team of experts on Afghanistan. He is an experienced diplomat and is doing his upmost to overcome the challenges that both Afghanistan and Pakistan are facing.

Holbrooke is currently travelling to Europe from where he would travel to Kabul to attend the inaugural ceremony of the Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, who was declared elected by the Independent Election Commission last month.

lkj/ma

 

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