Government to present five-year development plan at London conference

The Afghan government will present a five-year development plan to its international supporters at a key conference in London at the end of this month, officials at the Afghan foreign ministry confirmed on Monday in the capital, Kabul. Known as the Interim National Development Strategy (INDS), the plan focuses on security, governance and the rule of law, human rights, sustainable economic and social development, and counter narcotics. The INDS was approved at an extraordinary cabinet meeting on Saturday, according to the foreign ministry. "The government of Afghanistan will present the INDS plan to the delegates of participating countries and international economical and financial institutions for endorsement," Navid Ahmad Moez, a spokesman for the foreign ministry, said. "We expect the international community to support and endorse the INDS, and commit itself politically and financially in the long-term process of reconstruction and stabilisation of Afghanistan," Moez noted. The plan is due to be signed by Kabul and the international community at the conference scheduled to take place on 31 January and 1 February in London. Afghan President Hamid Karzai, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan are expected to attend the meeting. According to officials, only 22 percent of all foreign assistance is channelled through the Afghan government, with the remaining 78 percent being spent through NGOs. The Afghan government is now struggling to receive more donor support. Afghanistan’s international partners are likely to use the event to reassure the country of its continued support as it battles an increasingly deadly and destabilising insurgency while trying to rebuild the country after decades of brutal war. Despite the presence of about 30,000 foreign troops across the country, the insurgency launched after the US-led coalition forces toppled the Taliban regime in late 2001 has become more violent, with around 20 suicide blasts in the past four months alone. The country's economy also continues to rely heavily on the trade in illicit drugs — a threat NATO's top operational commander, US Gen James Jones, has described as more serious than the Taliban insurgency. The UN and the government have estimated the total export value of Afghanistan's opium in 2005 at US $2.7 billion - equivalent to 52 percent of the country's official gross domestic product (GDP).