Addressing a private sector side event in the Swedish capital Geneva on Tuesday, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said his administration has created a legal framework for the country’s mining sector.
According to him, Afghanistan’s natural resources can play a vital role in curbing poverty and instability in the country.
“To deal with poverty and instability on one side, but prosperity and empowerment on the other, the other side of the equation is our natural resources. Our natural resources are estimated to be worth one trillion dollars. But they remain on paper,” said Ghani.
The president said that his government has also created the legal structure for mining and natural resources so that they become a source of stability and prosperity.
“In order for them to become manifest and to become a source of stability, we have created the legal structure. The mining law and the hydrocarbon law are among the very best laws, and we have a structure of checks and balances where all the contracts are carefully reviewed by an international firm within the structure of the government,” added Ghani.
Ghani said that agriculture is the key to stability and global security.
“Agriculture is the key to stability and to global security and agriculture is the key to overcoming the challenge of narcotics,” he added.
Ghani insisted that the private sector and market building must move
“The state, civil society and the market are not in opposition, they require a unity. This comes under the agenda of market building,” he asserted.
The Afghan government and the United Nations are co-hosting the conference on Afghanistan in Geneva on Tuesday and Wednesday and the world is expected to renew its commitment and solidarity with the Afghan people and the Afghan government in their bid for peace and security.
The conference provides a platform for the Afghan government and international community to demonstrate progress and commitment, and maintain the momentum for presidential election and opportunities for peace and security.
The conference also aims to emphasize the importance and the implementation of mutual commitments made by the Afghan government and the international community towards reform and development and in measuring results against the $15.2 billion committed by the international community for Afghanistan in 2016.
