Transcript of President Ghani’s Interview with a Delegation of Western Journalists and
Media Opinion Leaders
May 4th, 2015
Kabul, Afghanistan
President Ghani:
Thank you very much and it is a pleasure to see all of you. Most of you are frequent visitors to
Afghanistan, so I welcome you again. It is great to see you again. 120,000 NATO troops were
withdrawn from Afghanistan. Every analyst predicted our collapse. From day one, we did not
have a winter break, we have been fighting through the winter, and there was no winter lap. We
have moved from a defensive position to a largely offensive position. In Helmand, we carried out
an unprecedented operation prior to the onset of the spring. Right now, we have covered Zabul,
today we are entering the Nawa district of Ghazni, where no coalition forces had even been. So
it is a systematic offensive campaign and it is yielding results. In the northeast, we are in
defensive position, so let’s look at the drivers. First, Pakistan’s operation in north and south
Waziristan had a major displacement effect, the old order of terrorists incorporated and
relocated its center of gravity to Afghanistan and these are people whose activities cannot be
framed within a national political framework. They are international by definition but they thought
and they had been planning for it for a long time to relocate. Our offensive operations against
them have enabled us to move. That is one driver, the second driver is the criminal economy
which Mr. Lenchov covered so well. Criminality requires ungoverned space, it requires disorder.
The global heroin trade is a network – producer, processor, transiter, consumer. Unless there is
coordinated action on all four parts of this chain plus an incredibly flexible global financing
movement, the deregulation of the global financial market has brought about movement of
money. So that is, this criminality is a driver. The third driver is the emergence of Daesh which
has four phases - organize, operate, decide and act. But their patterns are very different than
Alqaeda incorporated because terrorism is fast transforming itself, it is morphing. I called it with
a new term in Munich; I call it the ecology of terror. We operate within an ecology of terror. As
each state system weakens or collapses, the pressure increases. Because then there is a
narrative of success, the fourth driver are of course the Taliban, and their mode of conduct. And
the fifth driver is irresponsible armed groups, the tie to the criminal economy, where have we
suffered in terms of casualties?
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We have a layered security approach. On top of this is 32000 our special forces. They are the
very best; their casualty rate is extraordinary low, thank God.
After that, the next rank is 6 Army Corps plus the capital division, under 95000 Afghan National
Army. Below that, we have a series of police forces; it has not yet integrated under one coherent
corps. And, underneath this is the local police. The local police has taken the brunt of the
casualties, followed by the national police, followed by the national army.
So, couple of things on the way of conclusion so that others can. One, the patriotism of the
Afghan forces has been demonstrated beyond doubt. This is an all-volunteer force. No one is
compelled to be in any of these.
Second, unlike the expectations, we have not developed security vacuum, yes, we have a
security problem, but not a security vacuum, that should be differentiated.
Third, the fight has imposed on us, but we have also taken the fight back to the enemy.
And fifth, we are reorganizing. While we are fighting, we are reorganizing systems,
procurement, management, leadership, etc.
Net result, it is going to be a difficult year. But at the end of it, I think we are going to come out
much stronger.
Reporter:
Can you sustain these losses though; I mean in November, one of the top US Generals of the
time said the 2014 losses were not sustainable that the rate needed to come down, still it is
going up?
President Ghani:
Well, the whole thing is what does this year represent? We are sustaining casualties, the worst
part of my day is looking at the casualty figures, because they are grouped by civilians first, then
our forces, then armed opposition. And it is [inaudible] but this is an imposed war on us. It is a
war opposition to see whether we will take the pressure. Again, I express immense gratitude
both, first to the Almighty then to our security forces. We have taken the pressure. But, peace is
still our top priority, precisely because a strong system state is characterized by not relying on
use of force. We want to come out of use of force. The threat of use of force would be sufficient
to guarantee order, but we are building order.
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The other part of this, is we are fighting on behalf of all our neighbors and the international
community.
The convergence of international terrorist networks on our soil is an unprecedented event,
because it brings different generations, different molds, and different experiences together, and
allows them to learn from each other and to pose. But they have not won the population, and
the population is understanding this sacrifice, and again, the key to us is to reduce the
causalities and to be able to reach sustainable peace, and if we have to fight, then to use those
types of our forces that would incur the least casualties.
Reporter:
Mr. President, the decline of air support, medevac, close air and so forth, the withdraw of air
support and so forth were fairly precipitous and has been seen to have been a problem to
Afghan security forces, because obviously the air force and so forth is very nascent, very young.
It has been built, but it is not there yet. I am wondering if you would argue for a fairly robust
NATO presence, and US presence after 2016, the With House plan now is to withdraw all but a
small embassy force after 2016, and I am wondering if you would urge a more robust force that
was capable of providing some of these enablers after that time.
President Ghani:
We have met the target of Dec 31, 2014. The combat role of NATO ended, as President Obama
had promised the American people. But our discussions with the United States and the
framework nations have been enormously productive. We asked for flexibility and stability in
2015, and we got it.
The President of the United States has made a promise to the American people. We need to
operate within that framework and then see conditions. I appreciate the room that has been
provided for us for 2015. Because, with the transition we defectively lost 8 months. Due to
elections, and President Karzai’s stance in not signing the bilateral security agreement, and
status of forces agreement. So, withdrawal toke place under conditions uncertainty, because
military planners have to have that, I am very privileged to be working with General Campbell,
and before that as head of the security transition with General Petrous, General Allen and
General Dunford. Let’s see how 2015 ends, before we open up the question of 2016.
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Our air force is being built. We need a lot more support in this. But we are all aware of where
the constraints are. Within the existing constraints, I think we are doing well. In summer, I think
you would be the best judge of it.
Reporter:
Mr. President, after the attacks particularly in Jalalabad, you said very early that you believed it
was an attack of the Islamic State of Daesh. And in our briefings here, we have been told
repeatedly that most people here don’t believe that, and in fact don’t believe that there is a
distinct Islamic State’s presence but rather these are dismantle Taliban changing their stripes
that it is not truly foreign forces coming in. you also said in the United States you think ISIS,
whatever you are going to call it here, are posing a terrible threat to your country. So, could you
talk about it a little bit? Could you perhaps expand on what you said about the Jalalabad attack
being a distinct ISIS?
President Ghani:
I did not say Jalalabad was a Daesh attack. They claimed it. So, let’s get the narrative correct.
Reporter:
Because I am reading from a mistaken Guardian article...
President Ghani:
Daesh claimed the attack on Jalalabad. So, it is a claim by them. I was responding to a claim
made in the media by a force that previously had not claimed. That is one. Second, Daesh is an
internet phenomenon. It does not need physical presence. The first recruit, an Afghan woman
was taken to Syria, was recruited thorough Australia by the internet. All analysts, the Centcom,
has a commission that did the best open source studies on Daesh. I have read every word of it.
And of course there are two schools of thought, one is that this is an enduring phenomena, the
other that is a flash. But their pattern of organization is distinct, what I have argued is that based
on the pattern that they have established, I see an emerging threat. I am not alone in this, the
government of Iran is concerned about this, other governments are concerned, but we do not
want to await the dramatic actions that have characterized them, their mode of operation is to
eat their competitors.
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They ate the Syrian free army. There is an ecology, within that ecology there are both symbiotic
relationships and competitive relationship. Daesh’s relationship with other terrorist networks is
competitive. They rely on the same networks of criminal economy, but they compete. They are
the only group that have openly challenged the hegemony the ideological hegemony of the
Taliban.
Baghdadi served here in Kabul. With all information indicating, though he is denying it now, he
paid allegiance to Mullah Omer, now he is not, he is challenging it, they have been in debate, a
major theological debate.
If you look into Daesh, why does the word Khurasani, occur so often as a last name. Khurasan
is is our medieval name, the land of the sun rise as the Arabs called us. And there are two
factors. One, history. The Abbasid Caliphate was created by Afghan forces by a man named
Abu Muslim Khurasani, twice, first the Abbasid caliphate then the revolution within the brother
Mammon who brought the golden age was again installed in Baghdad by Generals from Herat.
Second, in their narrative of the end of the world, the forces that would defeat them in Syria, the
name of their magazine, Dabiq, will arise from Khurasan.
We matter to their narrative. And have [inaudible] thing is shown is that their narrative matters
that they are guided by a particular type of narrative. And a stable Afghanistan is a threat to this
narrative. So, as President of this country, I have to take it seriously. I am not in my former
position of speculating, I need to act, to use my mind, to analyze, but simultaneously to act. So if
we ignore the threat, we regret any points. If we focus on them, people might think that we
exaggerating the threat in order to attract attention.
But, the key point is, let’s agree on couple of things. One, these threats are not confined within
national boundaries. Two, their narrative is cross border, it is regional. Three, their challenge is
international. Four, they act with rapidity with force. Fifth, they act brutality and they are looking
for spectacular action.
Governments are slow, coordination is difficult, understanding is confined by boundaries,
national boundaries, country [inaudible] specialization.
I am fortunate to have had specialization in that of Middle East, as well as in South Asia and
China. So, it helps me.
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Main point, there is an emerging threat. How people deal with it, depends on their prospective
and their priorities. We do not want to be surprised, but we are not exaggerating. We have got
enough problems form elsewhere.
Reporter:
Thank you Mr. President first for these opportunities. I have a question about the Italian military,
and then if you done mind, I follow question about the UN.
Firs question is, General Campbell recommend to the Italian military to keep their engagement
in Herat at the current level at least until the end of the fighting season which is around October.
There is a little bit different from the original plan of the Italian government that was supposed,
you know, shorter period, but they showed willingness to follow the General Campbell
recommendation. My question is, did you have the chance to talk direct with Italian Prime
Minister about these? And do you plan to meet with him in the next months in order to discuss
these issues, but even with next in term of implementation of the bilateral cooperation between
the two countries, and if yes, if you can give us like orientative date? Thank you.
President Ghani:
First of all, I am very grateful to the Italian government. Italy is one of the key nations in the
Resolute Support Mission. I had detailed discussions with the Foreign Minister and the Defense
Minister. I have not had the pleasure of meeting with the Prime Minister, I look forward to the
opportunity.
As I said earlier, we need a stability and flexibility for 2015. This was result of discussion with all
key contributors, Turkey, Italy, Germany, UK and other nations that are supporting the role, and
the US. Those decisions have enabled us to put the time made available, one, to make up for
the last 8 months, so we effectively build the transition within the transition to make up with
those 8 months where there was uncertainty. And second, to really prepare in earnest. There
are series of events beginning in two weeks with the NATO Ministerial conference ending in July
of next year with the NATO summit. Each one of these will give us a key point. Everybody is
going to monitor the situation. We make sure that we are aligned, and we are exchanging
information continuously.
Reporter:
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Thank you very much Mr. President. One of the, after insurgency and terror, the most important
issue is the corruption in the country. I would like to ask about what steps do you get in terms of
fighting corruption, nepotism, and the drug trade, I mean, can you give detail?
President Ghani:
I absolutely be delighted to talk about anything but fighting. Well, the first driver of corruption
was the banking system. The Afghan public paid about $840 million for the crisis of the Kabul
bank. We tackled it on the second day in office. All the legal proceedings have been completed
in three levels of court, the commercial court, the appellate court, the supreme court. We have
frozen the assets of all the culprits. There is a travel ban on every single one of them. Their
property is being ascertained. There two main ones have been removed from the ordinary
prison to the Bagram special prison so that they would have special treatment and solitary
confinement, rather than volleyball court available to them and entertainment. We are collecting
them. We are in the process of collecting, there is a special court. And we are hoping to be
among the very first, you remember Turkey’s banking crisis and Mexico’s and others’, none of
these collected. I think we are going to break the vicious circle and collect. How much we will
collect, depends, but we are certain that we are going to collect. We have also started
proceedings in foreign countries. The Supreme Court passed the necessary judgement; the
cabinet has taken the actions for money laundry and related set of issues. Second, we
preempted a further banking crisis. I personally reviewed the audit reports of every single bank
in this country and then had meetings with them in my first month in office. I am pleased to
report that all of them are now restructured. With full audits and, the good news is that there is
$3 billion in the banking system; the bad news is that it cannot lend, because of absence of
collateral; we are focusing on them.
Second, procurement. In a single contract with the Ministry of Defense worth about a billion
dollars there were allegations of $100 million of difference between the two bids. I cancelled the
contract, there is a full investigation. 17 senior people in the ministry have been suspended. But
more fundamentally, we have created the national procurement board that I chair. Every single
contract in this government is being reviewed every Saturday whether it takes 3 hours 4 hours
or 5 hours. And we are finding an enormous misallocation of resources, lack of compliance with
laws and others, and it is going to take that kind of focus, probably for two years. I have to chair
this to build the systems.
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Three, we have brought a technocratic cabinet. It is a fundamental generational change in terms
of the cabinet that has been brought. I am very grateful to parliament for approving. They will
now be tackling. In the next 10 days they are going to prepare the first 100-day action plans. We
will implement the first 100-day action plan, then take a pause of month, and then go, so our
plans will always be 100-day. On these three drivers we scored well, where are the problems.
The fourth driver is land grabbing. Millions of acres of public land and private land have been
grabbed by powerful influences. That we are going to tackle in the next two years. The scale
requires a lot of focus.
Next, smuggling, we are gearing up the, on land grabbing and on smuggling our record is “D” to
“C minus“.
Narcotics, our record is “F”. We fail, because the problem is much larger than us. The
component that we are organizing is agriculture. In 13 years there had not been a single
meeting on the wheat policy, I have held 7 meetings. We are going to organize the purchasing
power of the government to move agriculture fundamentally because 36% of population of this
country lives below poverty line. It hasn’t moved in last 5 years. In some provinces it is up to
50%. So, narcotic is a fundamental driver of corruption. And we need to be able to put really a
much larger coalition to deal with this.
The court system still suffers, it has major problems than does the attorney general office. After
now that the cabinet is in place, we will be turning into the reform of the judicial system. Balance
sheet, I think in six months we have done a number of steps that deals with the rout causes, not
with the symptoms. But the problem is much larger, and it is going to require, it toke Singapore
10 years, and they had been left to [British?] institutions to get the first thing. I think we are
going to deal with this, part of the land issue for instance, is property right. So, we are going to
launch within weeks a major effort to turn informal property right into formal property rights, to
bring citizens, citizen engagement is really going to be critical. I came to office with a situation
where the world was ready to walk out. So, it has taken six months with a very active regional
approach and global approach to reaffirm global commitment. The next six months I am going to
be focusing on drivers of corruption, and on good governance, and I hope that, and that is going
to become a continuous process.
Reporter:
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Can I follow up on having asked you about casualties to flip it round ask you about prospects of
peace, I gathered a bit of positive news today on prospects for peace talks. At the same time, I
have had US officials in Washington tell me that despite your outreach to Pakistan that the
Pakistanis really are not doing anything serious to push the Taliban toward a more serious
negotiation, and that the likelihood may be that the Taliban is more intent on simply waiting out
the international community waiting, in particular for the US to leave till the end of next year.
What is your assessment of those factors?
President Ghani:
We have the time and the Taliban now have the watch; they have the watch, we have the time.
The situation psychologically is totally reversed.
Reporter:
Why?
President Ghani:
Well, there are no international forces, who are they fighting? Look at, read President Obama’s
lips. What possible ground do they have for killing their sisters and brothers? The ideological
underpinning is gone.
Reporter:
They argue though that by definition, you know, you are in bed with the infidels…
President Ghani:
Not with the infidels, I am the elected leader of this country. Women who had not come out of
their home for 60 years, came out and voted for me. Have they voted for a Talib? Let them
come out and contest in elections. I challenged them, I invite them to participate in open election
so that the people of Afghanistan can decide. Lots open up any municipality of Afghanistan.
Lots open 10 municipalities for election.
So, if it is the public will, if it is legitimacy. You know, the Afghan public mobilized, there is not
silence majority. The Taliban are Afghans, hence, they need for peace. There is a political
framework that needs to deal with their grievances, when they have legitimate grievances,
absolutely, let’s not pretend that this is a foreign fight. Are they not having sanctuary? Are they
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not having relationships? Where is the money coming from for underwriting this? Where are the
material coming? Where are they going? So, they need to understand the level, playing field.
Let us not sacrifice the best of the youth of this country. We have done enough of that.
The prospect of peace, I am not going to comment. I reviewed over 100 peace agreements in
2005-6 that were concluded during the 1990, and wrote a long article that has become a
standard reference point. And then, part of it, I wrote an article on Syria couple of years back on
Foreign Policy that again is. Peace requires focus and strategic patience. When a country has
suffered as much as we have? We need to have the discipline, and this cannot be arrived it
through headline news. We are clear about the priority of the peace. The process requires
focus, attention and sustained attention.
And again, from the international prospective, I am not making any necessary conclusions. Prior
to peace breaking out, conflict intensifies. It is an unfortunate characteristic of pattern of this. But
one can always misread the situation, because it is critical not to either exaggerate that
possibilities of peace or underestimate.
Reporter:
And is that what you think is happening now?
President Ghani:
I am saying is that I don’t want to, the patterns are clear. From the international pattern, I cannot
put myself in their minds. It is very difficult, but they are patterns to this. There are also patterns
that emerge from the past. We are going to have significant issues. You know, the most
significant aspect of peace is return of the refugees. We have five million refugees still out of
this country. In any peace, we will bring these people back. And we have to have the capacity to
observe them. So, without focusing on the economy, today we have inherited one million
unemployed youth at least. Every year in the next four years, an average of 600,000 youth are
going to be added to the market. By the day, we are becoming a younger country. We have to
create stakes for these people. And we are an incomplete country, because we have five million
refugees. And if you ask most Afghans two questions, how long have spent out of the country?
And, do you have relatives outside the country? The numbers will amaze you. So, we have to
put this larger fabric together and frame it within that and should have the patience to bring
about the peace that is sustainable, that is enduring, not just peace.
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And the other sad fact globalism, 50% of peace agreements break down within five years,
because they are not properly prepared.
And one other thing, peace does not bring security. Peace brings political legitimacy. But the
population buys into peace because they expect it, they expect security. El Salvador,
Guatemala, it shifted from conflict to insecurity, to criminality. So, we really need to have a full
understanding that the desire of public for breathing, for normalcy, for walking needs to be
satisfied.
Reporter:
Just to follow on that, based on your study of these agreements in the past, do you feel the
conditions are right here now for peace or is it still some way off?
President Ghani:
When did peace in Latin America come? When there was a regional consensus. Colombia,
when there was a complete nation drive, despite the opposition of Venezuela and Ecuador. And
then, there is global threat. 1990s were a period when peace in Latin America became possible.
One after another, and they became enduring. But 1970s, 80s, they did not happen. In
Colombia, transformation, the closest condition to us is Colombia. President Uribe’s memos are
really very profound reading. It is a good read not only, but because part of it is not politics, it is
criminality. So, you need to take in an unstable region. The variable that is changed is regional
stability. Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, these groups operate as network. So, nationally the people
are voting for peace, with their minds, with their hearts, with their daily activities.
I think the balance is in the positive direction. But judging timing is the most difficult part of
these. Because, an enormous amount of time is wasted regarding talks about peace talks. In
Sudan, it took six years. Mexico, Philippines, the most problematic peace agreements were in
Africa. On paper, they looked very good, but they didn’t have, because there were types of
unrealistic accommodations that did not drive. The most unrealistic peace agreement was
Cambodia, because the international community wanted to turn it into democracy. It is the most
liberal peace agreement, the most imaginative democratic peace, but did not have enduring
conditions.
So, we need to learn to be able to be principled, realistic, focused and simultaneously
pragmatic. And because I am a party, I cannot bad judge the conditions of the other party. You
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know, it an evolving thing because by definition, a government functions in one way, and armed
opposition functions in another way.
Reporter:
Mr. President, I would like to ask about the status of women in your Afghanistan, and
congratulations to your wife, everyone has mentioned her word, everyone is very proud of her.
She and yourself have commented on the horrific killing of Farkhunda and the trial is going on
now, and it is very much now at the forefront of everyone’s mind. At the same time, Amnesty
International for, as one example, has said that they would like to see more women in positions
of negotiators, for example in peace talks with the Taliban, if those should take place. Simply in
high-ranking positions, I know that you have named some in your cabinet. Can you talk about
your plans for the future, especially with the wife right there beside you also making a very
strong statement about women being in leadership position? Thanks.
President Ghani:
Thank you. Thank you for mentioning my wife. I owe her an enormous debt as you saw during
inauguration. I spoke about her, and will continue to speak about her. During the years of
conflict, women were marginalized. Our women have never suffered as much as, the conflict is
horrible for women. The legacy is bad, so we have endured a gender’s aggregation that we
need to overcome.
First, actions. 20% of the Afghan cabinet are women. And that should provide an indication of
our seriousness.
Second, they don’t have ceremonial portfolios. The minister of Higher Education, that is
fundamental to human capital formation in this country, is a brilliant Afghan woman, a doctor by
training, the former dean, head of the senate, university senate. The ministry of Labor and
Social Affairs, the most complex of our organization, the ministry of Counter Narcotics, and of
course the ministry of Women Affairs, all are women.
Two, the other end of it. I have released 240 women prisoners since becoming President. We
are investigating the cases of 4 women who for certain have been placed on death row, and 2
who might be, because I did this just before the numbers. When I came to office, they told me
they are about 124 on death row, it is now over 620. And we are investigating every single one
of them.
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We have taken the step to, now it is in the design phase, construct the first women’s university
in this country, all-women university right in the heart of Kabul with Turkish financing. Because
we need a network of women centered institutions if we are going to overcome the cultural
difficulties, the same way that the United States faced the problem. We lose a lot of girls at the
age of 12, then we lose them at 18, then we lose them at 22 or 24, it is extremely important. In
one reason, why do we lose them at 12, because the walking distance between the house and
the school can be 2 to 4 hours back and forth. Our pattern of settlement…is extraordinary
dispersed.
When I did time in Motion studies in 1970s, some kids were walking 6 hours a day to and from
school. With this ecology we need to focus at delivery of services. And the culture needs to be
taken seriously. Girls go to the mosques, and the mosques have spread extraordinary. They are
within walking distance. So, part of my think is to equip every mosque with fiber optics capability
so that we can then bring the education to the girls. It is going to take a lot of innovation.
Our education in terms of quantity is impressive, in terms of quality, we have serious problems.
The other part, I could go on for this, this is my favorite topic. My favorite, because I am product,
I am proof of the theory that if you change, if you invest on a girl’s education, five generations
change. If you invest on boys education, with all apologies, one generation changes. My
grandmother was educated in exile, with her sons, six sons, a daughter and all her
grandchildren. And we have carried it on, and if it would not for her, I wouldn’t be here speaking
to you. So, it is crucial that we get girls education critical. But the other side of this, economic
opportunities. All the laws in the world are not going to change the position of the women if they
don’t have cash in their pockets. No body dare challenge my grandmother, because she
controlled an enormous estate and 30 years after her death, they still call it her land. But, a poor
woman is really subject to abuse, is subject of violence from the son, from the husband, from
the relatives, so we need to tackle the basics. Women’s labor is unpaid to this country, it is
backbreaking, but it is unpaid. And if people want to help us, you know, it is the fashion houses
of New York and Paris, the French Foreign Minister asked me, what do you want? I said, a team
of designers that can design a putout system of jewelry, textiles and others so our women get in
cooperate. It is not back and charity that is going to change the condition of women. And it is not
training programs of one day or two days. This is the most fundamental cultural change, we
need to learn from Malaysia, we need to learn from Bangladesh, and also we need to learn from
Iran. Iran, in terms of birth control did in 10 years what it took the US 100 years, and then India
40 years. They have abandoned now because they want to widen the population. But, this is a
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really significant all in compassing discussion. We have reduced women at birth mortality, to
practically have. But to reduce it now requires a holistic approach to clean water, sanitation,
electricity. So, it really matters, and it is going to be struggled.
Farkhunda, represents two things in this country. One, the prevalence of the post stress
disorder syndrome as a societal phenomenon. We are ill, we don’t have psycho analyst, we
don’t acknowledge, but who but somebody was totally sick will take a stone and ground a dead
woman, and then put a car over her body. And this speaks of a wider social malaise. The other
part of this, I think is the extraordinary manifestation of a social [inaudible] spontaneously,
across this country funeral were held for her. Men, women, the Ulema mobilized. I immediately
appointed a commission of, both civil society actors and the Ulema, they came and
demonstrated her total innocence. And her family has been extraordinary. I mean, I take my
hand, so dignified family, I met with the father, mother, brothers and one sister. They are
extraordinary. I mean, the courage, the determination, but also not to give to yellow journalism
or to other things to sensationals.
We are going to deal with violence. Violence against women is a threat to this nation. One
reason I am focusing on women prisoners is precisely because of this. The justice system was
against the poor. And poor women are really suffering multiple ways. And we are going to work
with all activists, men and women to make sure that we can address comprehensively. I hope I
have brought it to you that it is not just the usual conditions of the women empowerment that are
going to work here, because our legacy of 36 years of violence and the prevalence of poverty,
the other factor. If investing in a woman’s education changes five generations, a female-headed
household that is poor condemns three generation to further poverty. And we have for the first
time in our history a very significant number of female-headed households. We need to provide
employment to them, we need to tailor the conditions to them. And that is not going to come
from two day workshops, it is going to come with real skill development, real focus, and I hope
to be able to a catalyst for this phenomena.
Reporter:
Mr. President, the United Nations’ attention on Afghanistan has lowered in the latest years
because the international community of course is focusing on some other issues that all we
know on. By the way, with the end of the military mission started multilateral cooperation in the
framework of the UN would be a valid option and opportunity for Afghanistan. I remember that
you met the Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the end of March. I was wondering if you telling
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to address, your personal address the general assembly at the end of September, even
because it would be more or less the same period where the fighting season will be almost over,
so you will have a more realistic assessment of the situation. So, definitely it is a good chance
for Afghanistan to address personally the general assembly?
President Ghani:
Thank you. Yes, I had a very good meeting with the Secretary General, am very pleased with
the meeting in New York after Washington. Currently, I am planning to attend the General
Assembly because it is the 70th anniversary and besides, the side meetings would allow me to
have a lot of meetings without travelling a lot. We also have, our foreign policy is in five circles;
the neighborhood, from India to Azerbaijan; the Islamic World; NATO; Europe; North America,
Canada, Japan, Australia; Asia; International organizations; and private sector. We are moving
actively on all five, because the fundamental issue that is going to transform this country, is not
aid, it is trade and investment. Our most significant asset in the next 25 years is going to
become our location. All roads lead through us, if there is not a stable Afghanistan, Asia will not
integrate economically. The energy corridors of Central Asia will integrate with East Asia, South
Asia will not be a [inaudible] system. Transit would be interrupted. We are going to get to
Europe within five days, and are very close to finishing the Lapis Lazuli corridor. Within two
years 70% of our imports and exports will be via the Caspian into Europe. So, we are fast
changing, but we want to be the roundabout.
Our second asset is our water. We have the head waters. 36 years of conflicts have condemned
us not to use it, we only use 10% of it with the technology of 1960s. But this is going to become
as important as the oil of our neighbors. The water, because every shift in global warming, if
there is 2 degrees of global warming, there would be massive desertification and our water is
crucial to solving the problem of desertification.
Reporter:
Just to follow up on the economy, I have heard similar arguments about the value of locations in
places like Egypt which is managed to just about…
President Ghani:
They squandered it, because they did not open up.
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Reporter:
So, here is the question, economic progress for couple of years. I think the IMF latest forecast
1.5% this year. How worried are you that the lack of growth is going to interact with the physical
security threat in the way that undermines you stability?
President Ghani:
Growth is fundamental, in the next six months I hope to devote at least 30% of my time to the
economy. Every day now, I am devoting at least two hours, I have started one of the most
intensive consultations with our merchants on the one hand and with our industrialists on the
other. And we are seeking and courting global private sector investment to be able to bring it
about. A lot of the ground work has to be created. And I want to relate that, land is another
major asset, the amount of land under cultivation is only 60 percent of 1978. We have not
finished a single new dam in the last 14 years. We suffer about $800 to $1.5 billion from floods,
and then droughts, the cycles. We want to break it, and I think it is feasible.
Our third major asset is our mineral wealth. 33% of our currently surveyed mineral wealth in oil
and gas is worth 1 to 3 trillion dollars. So, it is a rich country with poor people. The country is
extraordinary rich, the people are miserably poor. And what matters now is to get the institutions
right, because natural wealth can be a curse. If we don’t get the proper institution, if don’t
overcome corruptions, this natural wealth will be squandered. And we have money, but not
capital. We are afloat with money, but we don’t have capital, meaning it is not harness to create
work. But we have entrepreneurial people. At the individual level, we are very similar to a
Chinese and the Americans in terms of the initiatives. But when we go to the firms, our
competitiveness drop a thousand fold, when we get the cluster, it drops another. So, it is really
up to the government now to create the conditions.
Getting the conditions right would enable us, you know, locations, all these advantages, Congo
is much richer than us in mineral wealth, but is confined because it didn’t get the institutions
right. So, my issue here on the economy is, the market has not been paid sufficient attention.
Market building is really central to us. There are certain problems that only the market can
solve, there are certain problems that only the state can solve. We need to bring the right
combination. So, it is different historical examples that are relevant.
In terms of job creation, we need some of new deal type initiatives to avoid the poor becoming
the reserve army of violence. In terms of growth, we need certain basic things, for instance, we
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had 100 mobile phones in 2002, we have 22 million now. So, it is a very different base it is going
to take.
The last issue, if you plan on a national economy, it’s one set of parameters, but if your planning
is premised on Asia’s growth and being in the middle of 3 billion people, then it puts an entirely
different sets of opportunities, creates different opportunities but also force you to consider you
constraints in very differently way.
Road building here, all must link to international access. So, the reason I have worked out the
region very intensely, is for the sake of economic opportunities, and to be able to, it is not just
the political confluence and congruence, that economically see the opportunities. And poverty
would be overcome when regional cooperation takes place.
Thank you
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