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Good morning. Thank you, Jim (Wolfensohn), for your welcome, and thank you Secretary Powell for your thoughtful remarks.
We are at a critical time right now for the people of Afghanistan. We must now make a seamless transition from the urgent humanitarian assistance that followed the collapse of the Taliban to the urgent reconstruction assistance that will create and support stability and growth in that budding nation. I view this as not only a duty we in the world have to the people of Afghanistan. I also view this as an opportunity to demonstrate that we can deliver international development assistance that creates real results – concrete improvements in the lives of individual citizens.
President Bush has made increasing the effectiveness of international aid a high priority for his administration. Over the past year and a half, we have engaged in a constructive dialogue with multilateral organizations such as the World Bank, as well as bilateral talks with our development partners, in order to make a real difference in the lives of the world’s poor.
I am pleased to note that these talks have led to commitments for major changes in the way we measure and deliver international aid. We are focusing on results, rather than efforts, even as efforts are redoubled. In that context, our reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan are not only vital to the lives of the Afghani people and important for securing Central Asia against terrorist influences – they must serve as a model for what good foreign assistance programs the world over can achieve.
Success in Afghanistan requires that we fulfill our pledges and that we are hard-nosed in insisting on results. We must set targets for national reconstruction, we must find practical, meaningful ways to measure progress, and we must hold ourselves and the Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan accountable for hitting those targets.
For international donors, meeting commitments to progress means, before anything else, meeting our commitments to provide operating cash to fledgling Afghani institutions. Until the Afghani economy is producing tax revenues sufficient for basic government operations there, and until the Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan has the strength to collect those revenues nationwide, they are dependent on our timely funds for their essential needs. Without credit or reserves, the Afghani government is living month-to-month, in clear sight of chaos, competing with warlords and terrorists for sway.
The victory of law and stability depends on consistent international support, so that the Afghani authorities can take a long-term view of their national development, and worry less about putting bread on the table tomorrow. Between now and March 2003, we expect a cash shortfall of $165 million for the Afghani government. As international donors, our most basic measure of success is our ability to close that gap, so that teachers, police, minesweepers and construction workers get paid, and stay working.
As we dig deeper to provide start-up funds for Afghanistan’s national institutions, we must also define more clearly the measures of their success. Beyond our reasonable due diligence, we need to trust the responsible and competent Afghani leadership, such as President Karzai and Finance Minister Ghani, to make the right choices for the countrymen to whom they are ultimately accountable.
At the same time, where the international community is providing support, we must measure achievement. For example, I am proud of the progress of the Afghani road construction joint venture between the U.S., Japan, and Saudi Arabia. This project will bring back into service most of the ancient ring road that connects Kabul to Kandahar to Herat – a stretch of about 965 kilometers. Beyond linking three of Afghanistan's most important cities, facilitating vital commerce and communication, it will connect and unite the people of Afghanistan to each other, and contribute to the national unity that the Afghan government and the Afghan people so desperately need.
Let’s make sure that we hold ourselves and the new government accountable for delivering the promised number of miles paved, on the promised timeline for completion. Or with regard to education funding, to take a different example, let’s help the government track the number of girls back in school, and the number of Afghan children reading at their grade level.
My colleague Treasury Under Secretary John Taylor has just returned from Afghanistan, where he noted a number of significant steps forward by the new government, and the Afghan Finance Ministry in particular. The Finance Ministry will be introducing a new national currency, to establish a basis for macroeconomic policy and reinforcing national unity.
A new financial accountability system is in place to track spending and revenue, and fight corruption. New investment laws are opening the doors to private capital and enterprise. And trade and customs reforms, including the elimination of export taxes, are certain to bolster economic links between Afghanistan and its neighbors.
The situation in Afghanistan is precarious, but hopeful. I believe that with swift and continuing international support, operating in conjunction with strict accountability for results, that long-beleaguered land can at last enter the modern world, and create security and prosperity for its citizens.
Thank you.