From Aid to Productivity: The Roadmap for a Self-Reliant Afghanistan

(Speech at the Senior Officials Meeting (SOM), ARG, Kabul, Afghanistan) 

Keypoints: 

• International Solidarity: Global presence in Kabul as a symbol of shared commitment.
• Government Unity: A fully formed administration aligned around a common vision.
• Economic Self-Reliance: Shifting from aid dependence to productivity, investment, and trade.
• Values and Human Rights: Human and women’s rights as fundamental necessities.
• Institutional Reform: Building durable state institutions through law and accountability.
• Anti-Corruption: Advancing transparency through procurement and customs reform.
• Private Sector Growth: Streamlining licensing to support local entrepreneurs.
• Social Inclusion: Elevating women leaders and protecting displaced populations.
• Security Foundation: Afghan Armed Forces as the cornerstone of development.
• Ownership of the Future: Partners support, but Afghans lead their destiny.

In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

Minister Hakimi, Minister H, Chairman Muslimyar, distinguished guests, members of the Cabinet, Governors, Ambassadors, heads of agencies, all our guests, and ladies and gentlemen: It is my pleasure to welcome you to this Senior Officials Meeting. Your presence here is not just substantive but highly symbolic. Your decision to come at a time after Kabul has been in mourning is an act of empathy, understanding, sympathy, and commitment. On behalf of the state, the nation, and all segments of public opinion—Civil Society, the Ulema, and the women of Afghanistan—I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart.

"Friends in need are friends indeed," and you are showing by your presence that you are indeed with us in our needs. Together, we can stand tall in the face of all the challenges that confront us.

The Opportunity for Open and Candid Discussion

We have an exciting day ahead of us. This will be the first opportunity since London—where Dr. Abdullah and I first presented our self-reliance reform strategy—to have an open and candid discussion with our international partners. I do emphasize "open and candid." Open, in the sense that there are fundamental questions where early closure will not be helpful; candid, because mutual accountability demands candidness, and we should not shy away from grading our efforts, particularly those of the government. A government elected by the people and bound by them needs to be evaluated clearly in order to have benchmarks to see how we are changing and how we are delivering.

In London, we were a new government. Today, we are a fully formed administration. Our speakers and panelists are Afghanistan's best and brightest leaders. You will have many interesting discussions over the course of the day, but for Dr. Abdullah and myself, the most interesting part of all would be to watch our Government of National Unity demonstrate to the world community that we have become one team with a shared vision for repairing our battered country and bringing about a better world for our children and their children.

The Economic Strategy for Self-Reliance

In my remarks last night, I gave an overview of our government’s economic strategy and how we plan to introduce the structural reforms that will move Afghanistan from an economy built on the consumption of foreign aid to one built around rising productivity through commercial investment, job creation, and trade. I will not repeat that discussion, but I would like to quickly summarize the main elements of that strategy.

The first pillar of the strategy is to raise national productivity by focusing our investments in agriculture, mining, infrastructure, regional connectivity, and particularly, of course, in human capital. The second pillar is that Afghanistan needs to foster markets where firms compete fairly, where jobs are created, and where value chains provide better access to the capital and knowledge that we need to pursue opportunities in new markets. The third pillar is that a state focused on development must build partnerships with the private sector that enable growth, and partnerships with our neighbors, near and far, to build regional cooperation for peace, prosperity, and development.

It is important to highlight our economic strategy for this meeting and for the people of Afghanistan because creating jobs and moving the economy forward will underpin the success of our other efforts to build an inclusive and tolerant society. We must strive for both peace and prosperity, but prosperity is not purely an economic concept. The pursuit of growth must never come at the expense of our values.

Commitment to Human Rights and Constitutional Values

Our government firmly believes that human rights are not luxuries that can be traded off in order to increase the size of the economy, or set aside indefinitely until the time comes when we can afford them. In a war-torn country like Afghanistan, human rights—and building the institutions to ensure that they are respected—is as fundamental to successful development as inspiring the private sector or building more hydroelectric dams.

It is no accident that, for all of our other challenges, Afghanistan is today among the countries in our region with the freest press and the most open space for civil society. We have given the most autonomy to our Human Rights Commission, where our distinguished leader Sima Samar is with us, and we are most explicitly committed to carrying forward a national policy to advance the rights of women.

At a time when even the most developed countries are finding it hard to reconcile their legal obligations to protecting the rights of refugees with the social, economic, and political challenges they pose, we in the National Unity Government of Afghanistan recognize the fragility of our fundamental freedoms. We will repeat in this and other forums our unwavering commitment to preserving and advancing them. There can be no compromise on our fundamental rights. Chapter Two of Afghanistan's Constitution, on the rights and obligations of citizens, is non-negotiable.

Mutual Accountability and Institutional Reform

The Tokyo Mutual Accountability Framework and our own self-reliance strategy draw heavily on global agreements such as the Paris and Accra Declarations and the non-binding Busan Declaration on Development Effectiveness. The core idea of all of these discussions was very simple: rather than seeing development as a transfer from rich countries to poor ones, mutual accountability would consist of a compact between them that was defined by trust, focus, and delivery.

Today’s discussion is an assessment of how far we’ve come since taking office, in an effort to reach agreement on the way forward between now and next year's ministerial gatherings—first in Warsaw to discuss security, and then in Brussels to discuss development cooperation. Before we begin the day, I would like to make some comments on how we’ve been organizing to implement our reform agenda and the roadmap that we see unfolding between now and Brussels next year.

Our approach to achieving reform has been institutional. The collaboration between myself and Dr. Abdullah has demonstrated that power is not a zero-sum game, but can be an exercise in moral responsibility and accountability. Our commitment to constructive politics will be measured by its success in building stable, enduring institutions.

Electoral Reform and Governance

I am pleased to inform you that our Electoral Reform Commission, whose distinguished leader Mr. Akifi is with us, having worked diligently, has now shared its first set of recommendations. We will have a special cabinet session tonight to consider them. Since Parliament cannot legally change the electoral law in its final year, the electoral law will then be amended by legislative decree tonight, thanks to the exemplary work by the Electoral Reform Commission.

In the immediate future, we will announce the dates for the parliamentary and district council elections. While not all of the problems of voter lists will be solved in time for the upcoming parliamentary elections, we are totally confident that the 2019 presidential election will be amongst the cleanest held in any country, especially any developing country.

The Government of National Unity is a success. We have chosen a cabinet that is not just highly qualified but is here to make the reform agenda become a reality. In just six months, the government has revised or passed more legislation than the past two years combined. Key laws or regulations passed have included a revised banking law, electricity laws, updated procurement laws, and a myriad of others. Every cabinet meeting has a legislative component to it, whose purpose is to make the implementation of the self-reliance agenda possible. The first duty of the President of Afghanistan constitutionally is to ensure the application of the rule of law, and that’s why we are focusing on legislation—to get the rules of the game right and then reorganize accordingly.

Implementation of the Seven Key Reforms

First: Building a Clean and Competent Government First and foremost, it has been to start the process of building a clean, competent government. A big achievement of the past year has been the restructuring of the Capacity Building for Results (CBR) program, which is now recruiting qualified staff for ministries on the basis of approved resource management plans. In recognition of this progress, I am very pleased to have learned that donors will also align their invoicing rates behind the CBR scales so that we can halt and then reverse the brain drain out of government. Just a few days ago, we also assigned the responsibility for choosing Director Generals and senior officials to their ministers rather than the Civil Service Commission, so that going forward our ministers can build their own teams and be accountable for what they deliver. I congratulate Minister Hakimi on this accomplishment because, as Minister of Finance, I singly failed to do what he’s managed to do.

Second: Reforming the Budget Process The second key reform area has been to begin reforming the budget process. Afghanistan’s budget system served it well when the objective was primarily to track the expenditure being made on projects. It has not been as effective a tool in driving national development policies and supporting government-led reforms. We must renew our efforts on reform and create a national budget that is less fragmented, more responsive, and which allocates resources based on performance. The new Public Financial Management roadmap will improve the quality of planning, reflect the true cost of government policy decisions, and use better and faster reporting to let the Finance Ministry monitor the quality of implementation. Importantly, this process will focus on the capacity and performance of people and teams, rather than themes.

Third: Accelerating the War Against Corruption The third key reform has been to accelerate our war against corruption. In London, we promised to make tackling corruption a first-order priority. Over the year, we’ve launched that war on many fronts. Kabul Bank is no longer a symbol of the impotence of government, but a symbol of resolve. We established a National Procurement Commission that I chair every Saturday to review all high-value contracts that in the past ended up costing the government hundreds of millions of dollars in inefficient specifications. We have also made significant changes to how we manage Customs and have made major efforts to end the culture of impunity by prosecuting people who steal from the government regardless of their political connections.

Fourth: Reorganizing the Justice System The fourth key reform has been to reorganize Afghanistan’s justice system. The Supreme Court, led by our very able Chief Justice, is focused on its core legal functions and is initiating comprehensive reform. We nominated the first woman to the Supreme Court, and I must express my disappointment that she lost by eight votes. She has one of the most competent legal minds in this country and stands head and shoulders above all the other candidates. I do hope that our members of Parliament will consider merit and not just gender. We’ve also launched a review of prosecutors to weed out the unqualified and corrupt.

Furthermore, we formed an inter-ministerial commission to clamp down on the narcotics trade. There was an attitude a decade ago—"well, we Afghans grow it, others consume it." Well, I have news: we have three and a half million addicts. Daily, we see the toll that addiction takes. We are a very tight-knit society. Today, bridges under the Kabul River are full of people who have been disowned by their families. Producers, processors, traffickers, and consumers must come into a compact to deal with this worldwide phenomenon because none of us can ignore it—particularly not we who will lose a generation of our best young people to this addiction.

Fifth: Fostering the Private Sector The fifth key reform has been to begin fostering the private sector to stimulate investment and job creation. We’ve passed bills to increase the supply of electricity, including efforts to advance renewable energy. We began to streamline business licensing requirements, and we anticipate opening Afghanistan’s first One-Stop Shop for business registration and licensing later this year.

Sixth: Linking Ministries and Provinces Sixth, while the first set of reforms focused on the ministries, the second 100-day plan will focus on the relationship between ministries and provinces. Minister Popal has been instrumental in preparing provincial reform plans. I welcome the governors here today, including the Governors of Nangarhar, Herat, and Kandahar. This is a distinguished and committed group, including two women governors who are making history. Governor Sarabi was the first, and she is followed now by Governor Joya.

Over the coming year, our government will launch a concerted campaign to encourage international and regional companies to invest in Afghanistan. We will dramatically streamline the investment process and cut the red tape that makes even the ongoing conflict pale in significance to the economic damage that we can do to ourselves with bad policies. Our priority is to create a better investment climate for Afghanistan's own entrepreneurs and small and medium enterprises.

Announcements for Investors: I would like to open this workshop by making the following announcements:

• The Afghanistan Investment Support Agency (AISA) and the Ministry of Commerce will increase consultations with the Afghan Chamber of Commerce, the Afghan Industries Association, and women-owned enterprises. I and the National Economic Council will personally review these recommendations.

• We will submit a reform to increase the standard length of business licenses from one year to three years.

• We will work to review and possibly eliminate the requirement for a tax clearance letter in order to renew a business license.

• We will ask the cabinet to approve the Afghan Revenue Department’s plan to overhaul its human resources system to improve fiscal sustainability and reduce corruption.

Additionally, last week the cabinet approved a plan to overhaul the human resources of the Customs Department. No one will serve in Customs unless they are a graduate of the Customs Academy and transparently recruited. The Ministry of Finance will form an inter-departmental committee for tax policy to ensure all stakeholders are consulted before new policies are introduced. Consultation, however, is not a veto right. The private sector needs to respond to a favorable environment and not insist on deals based on patronage.

To encourage investment in telecommunications, private companies will be allowed access to the optical fiber backbone. We will also announce an initiative to revive investor confidence in the Sheberghan gas fields. Finally, the process for contractor payments will be streamlined to speed up payment, with every procurement contract tied to a clear schedule of payment matched to delivery.

Seventh: Social Inclusion and Women's Rights The seventh key reform has been to advance social inclusion and the protection of women's rights. We have committed to implementing the "Women, Peace, and Security" paper recommendations in full. We have also moved ahead with bringing women into the senior ranks of government. I am pleased that our four distinguished women colleagues—Minister Oryakhail, Minister Momand, Minister Nazari, and Minister Azimi—are with us leading significant portfolios.

As I said, I nominated a woman to the Supreme Court, and I want to make sure that as another three judges retire next year, we can be the first to have a woman in the Supreme Court. We are fortunate that we have 249 women judges, 100 of whom were sworn in by me this year. Our government is taking action to end violence against women and we agreed to extend the coverage of shelters for abused women to the entire country. Last week, the cabinet endorsed Economic Empowerment for Women as a National Priority Program.

The Evolution of Partnership and Self-Reliance

As one of the early originators of the concept of mutual accountability, I know the pitfalls of taking ambiguous phrases too literally; nevertheless, we Afghans can be quite literal people. Partnerships evolve. I am extremely pleased that your technical teams and ours had deep discussions on how the partnership can evolve to support self-reliance. Your agreement to support our public financial management reform program is deeply appreciated. Nothing in these discussions has brought me as much joy as our agreement to align salary scales for Afghan staff so that we can all compete for talent on a level playing field.

We called our progress report "The First Mile" because we recognize that the road ahead will be long and full of curves and potholes. Success is far from guaranteed. I must emphasize the seriousness of the current lack of jobs. Poverty is the driver of instability. You cannot have citizenship based on such disparity in wealth and opportunity. Immediately: jobs, jobs, and jobs are our priority.

Afghanistan is not Greece. Our economic contraction has not come from bad policy choices. We have not shied away from serious reforms, but our prospects for implementing economic adjustments will be reduced if we cannot create jobs in the short term. Our government is not a private company; its basic assumption is legitimacy. The public must understand that reforms are to their benefit and to the benefit of their children. We need to work with you to soften the impact on the poorest of the structural adjustments that must and will be made. We cannot simply abandon the poor today in pursuit of long-term prosperity tomorrow.

Three Explicit Commitments to Accountability

Before opening this workshop, I would like to make three explicit commitments that you can use to hold me and my government to account:

1. By the time of the Brussels gathering, the Government of Afghanistan will have produced a credible budget that reflects the reality of our economic situation, showing a realistic rise in revenue.

2. Afghanistan will be moving up the human rights scale, particularly regarding women's rights. We are also tackling the issue of refugees and their honorable, voluntary return. Our promise is to make the word "internally displaced" deleted from our political and social vocabulary.

3. Provided that we have a willing partner, peace discussions will have advanced, and a serious dialogue to end the killings will be underway.

Security and the 5,000-Year Legacy

I cannot open this workshop on development without acknowledging the critical role that our armed forces are playing to provide the security umbrella without which all talk of development loses meaning. Afghanistan is a country under attack by forces who believe in none of the values we discuss today.

The road to Brussels passes through Warsaw. We appreciate the support that our partners with Resolute Support have provided us. We continue to acknowledge the brave commitment shown by our foundational ally, the United States, and every member that contributed to the NATO ISAF mission. Our goal is to turn Resolute Support into an enduring partnership.

Last year, a lot of people were saying that the Afghan security forces would disappear like a puff of smoke. This is a country of patriots. We have defended this country for 5,000 years, and let me assure you, we will defend our honor and our independence for the next 5,000 years.

Closing Remarks

Let me stop here and hand the baton over to my very capable cabinet and colleagues. Afghanistan is on the move. I look forward to reconvening in Brussels a year from now to present the results we have delivered. You are indispensable to the generation of hope and to ensuring the Afghan people know that we are not alone. But also, the Afghan people know that we must own the responsibility for the future ourselves, because no partnership will work unless the partner that is in need can own the future and commit to it.

Thank you.