Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his top ministers made an urgent plea to international donors at an annual aid conference in Kabul on Monday to shift their focus to helping the country's struggling private sector and to let the Afghan government take a controlling lead in development planning.
Karzai said his government considered building the country's infrastructure -- including energy, aviation, and telecommunications -- to be an urgent priority to provide the foundation for private sector development. Urban development, completely neglected in the last three years, would be a priority too, he said.
The meeting follows months of debate and recriminations over why the billions of dollars in aid that have poured into Afghanistan since the former Taliban rulers were ousted more than three years ago have accomplished so little.
The government contends that private aid groups, which control much of the donated money, have squandered it. Many business leaders say the lack of trained staff in government and corruption are largely to blame.
The government will insist on a national unified budget for next year, said Finance Minister Anwar ul-Haq Ahady.
More than 93 percent of Afghanistan's annual budget comes from international donors, but only a third of this year's US$4.7-billion budget will go through government hands, he said.
"Let this government take full responsibility for our country's development," he told the donors.
Muhammad Iashaq Naderi, the government's chief economic adviser, said at the conference on Monday that the government would insist on greater control over foreign assistance flowing into the country and greater coordination with donors and private aid groups.
Aid organizations will be monitored for the cost-effectiveness and impact of their programs, he said.
Karzai said he had promised the Afghan people to raise the annual per capita income from US$200 to US$500 and reduce poverty during his five-year term.
"We must now work together to overcome chronic poverty, and build Afghanistan into a stable and thriving economy in the region," he said. "We are keenly aware of our people's expectations, and our responsibility towards them."
The three-day conference was not aimed at raising more money for Afghanistan, since US$8.3 billion of funding was pledged at a donors conference last year to see Afghanistan through 2007.
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