Tripartite agreement on trade and investment

Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran have agreed, at a conference over the weekend, on setting up a commission to deal with regional issues of concern - primarily investment, a UN official confirmed to IRIN on Monday. "It was an extremely successful meeting," the regional press officer for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Cherie Hart, in the Iranian capital, Tehran, said. Facilitated by UNDP, the top ministerial meeting was attended by Iranian Foreign Minister Kamala Karris, Iranian Economic Affairs and Finance Minister Thames Masher, Afghan Finance Minister Headiest Amin-Arsala and Pakistani Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz. Other participants included UNDP's Administrator, Mark Malloch Brown, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and the Islamic Development Bank. Part of an ongoing project, Hart stressed that the conference was an important step towards increasing investment in the region. The tripartite agreement signed was, among other things, on breaking down trade barriers, she said. Designed to discuss challenges and opportunities in human capital, rural development and crop substitution, access to markets, supply of materials and consumer goods, communications and infrastructure, the conference had achieved its goal, Hart maintained. With the role of the private sector being a key focus of discussion, during the two-day meeting, the Afghan representative reiterated his country's need for investment. Amin-Arsala said Kabul was counting on the private sector to be "the force behind reconstruction". Ministers from Iran and Pakistan expressed hope that their countries would have the opportunity to participate both as donors and business partners in the trade and economic opportunities that had arisen in Afghanistan. "For centuries, the peoples of Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan had built trade routes and other economic partnerships. And now, as we enter a new era of peace, commerce can resume. Iran and Pakistan can - and want to - mobilise domestic resources in support of Afghanistan’s new national development framework," said Malloch Brown. "In recent months we have watched economic activity come back to life in Kabul and other major cities," he added. Recent events in Afghanistan came into focus during the conference, with participants reiterating the need for the country to have a stable economy. "A vibrant, dynamic private sector for the speedy recovery of the Afghan economy is needed," Nigel Fisher, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Afghanistan, said at the conference. He added that such a recovery was "dependent on Afghan self-reliance, entrepreneurship and productivity". He cautioned, however, that recovery could not be sustained without trade and commerce between Afghanistan and its neighbours. The Commission itself will comprise representatives from the three nations and will aim to increase investment for all. "It will be small enough and practical enough to achieve some success," Hart explained. Private and public-sector enterprises will play a key role in the work of the Commission, and UNDP would actively participate by providing technical support, a UN statement said. The Commission is expected to be convened in the next few months and will be presented with issues of regional concern.