Enhancing Afghanistan’s competitiveness requires accelerating agricultural productivity, increasing efficiency in the trade sector, and supporting our entrepreneurial business community.  In turn, these sources of growth demand reliable and inexpensive access to infrastructure.  Afghanistan’s future role as a transport/trading ‘hub’ in Central Asia requires an appropriate transport network.  Modernized infrastructural systems will maximize the capacity of the Afghan economy, generating employment, income, and an influx of capital.  In addition, strategic management of natural resources must lead to greater energy and financial self-sufficiency for Afghanistan, while not drying up its reserves of raw materials for future Afghan generations. 

Our goal is to create a sustainable, productive, and essential infrastructure in order to provide the building blocks for private sector expansion, equitable economic growth, increased employment, and accelerated agricultural productivity.

Five-Year Strategic Benchmarks

• Program 1: National Roads & Road Transport
• Program 2: Air Transport
• Program 3: Power and Water
• Program 4: Telecommunications
• Program 5: Natural Resources and Mining
• Program 6: Urban Development and Housing

Cross-Cutting Initiatives

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Five-Year Strategic Benchmarks 

The stated goal for the Infrastructure and Natural Resources Sector will be realized through a strategy based on six mutually supporting programs:

Program 1: National Roads and Road Transport

Afghanistan will have a fully upgraded and maintained ring road, as well as roads connecting the ring road to neighboring countries by end-2008, and a fiscally sustainable system for road maintenance by end-2007.

A reliable, effective, and affordable road and public-transport system will integrate Afghan citizens into a system of increasing economic productivity, facilitating trade and entrepreneurial dynamism.  The Government’s goal is to rehabilitate, improve, and maintain the road network so as to strengthen domestic linkages between the capital and all major cities; commercial, industrial, and mining centers; provincial and district headquarters; and neighboring countries, facilitating Afghanistan’s role as a land-bridge.  The Government will also construct provincial and rural access roads to ensure that economic integration extends to Afghanistan’s more peripheral rural citizenry.

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Program 2: Air Transport

By end-2010: Kabul International Airport and Herat Airport will achieve full International Civil Aviation Organization compliance; Mazar-i-Sharif, Jalalabad, and Kandahar will be upgraded with runway repairs, air navigation, fire and rescue, and communications equipment; seven other domestic airports will be upgraded to facilitate domestic air transportation; and air transport services and costs will be increasingly competitive with international market standards and rates. 

An effective, reliable, and demand-driven air transport industry will integrate Afghanistan into the regional and international global economic system.  This will provide Afghan entrepreneurs market opportunities and foster an economic environment more attractive to international capital. 

The Government’s goal is to make Afghanistan’s principal airports and civil aviation conform to the requirements of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).  As a result, it will make the country more attractive to international airlines and promote a competitive aviation environment for international and domestic service.  The Government will also implement an aggressive training program to enhance capacity in major domestic airports and far-reaching institutional reforms to the independent Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and Ministry of Transport.  Long-term capacity building objectives will be balanced with shorter-term capacity support through expatriate professional input and training, among other means.

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Program 3: Power and Water

1. By end-2010: electricity will reach at least 65% of households and 90% of non-residential establishments in major urban areas, and at least 25% of households in rural areas.  At least 75% of the costs will be recovered from users connected to the national power grid.  A strategy for the development and the use of renewable energies will be developed by end-2007.

2. Sustainable water resource management strategies and plans, covering irrigation and drinking water supply, will be developed by end-2006, and irrigation investments will result in at least 30% of water coming from large waterworks by end-2010.

Improved power is essential to increasing the capacity of Afghanistan’s service and productive sectors, and to providing electrical service to underserved Afghan households.  The Government’s goal is to evolve the Ministry of Energy & Water (MoEW) into a fiscally disciplined institution that engages in cost-recovery and provides reliable, low-cost electric service to all Afghan citizens.  In the area of water management, our goal is rehabilitation, sustainable development, and utilization of water resources and irrigation infrastructure with equitable access for all Afghans. 

The Government will also implement legislative and regulatory reforms to leave room for private sector participation.  We will restructure state enterprises and reassign service provision functions to the private sector, leading to its greater involvement and stewardship of these critical public goods. 

Fundamental to both our power and water strategy will be enhancing the capacity of public utilities to maintain infrastructure and manage services in a fiscally sustainable and transparent manner. 

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Program 4: Telecommunications 

By end-2010: a national telecommunications network will be put in place so that more than 80% of Afghans will have access to affordable telecommunications, and more than US $100 million per year are generated in public revenues.

A reliable telecommunications network enables rapid flow of commercial, governmental, and cultural information.  The Government’s long-term goal is to establish an affordable private-sector delivered telephone system in all provinces and districts in Afghanistan, and to provide a communications infrastructure that attracts business investment.  We will establish a telecommunications regulatory system that enhances investor confidence, and a public telecommunications backbone that extends the economic and social discourse to rural areas.

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Program 5: Natural Resources and Mining 

An enabling regulatory environment for profitable extraction of Afghanistan’s mineral and natural resources will be created by end-2006, and by end-2010 the investment environment and infrastructure will be enhanced in order to attract domestic and foreign direct investment in this area.

A long-term approach to profitable and sustainable exploitation of Afghanistan’s natural resources will provide much needed public revenue and employment.  The Government’s long-term goal is to maximize revenues from natural, mineral, oil, and gas resources while protecting these resources for future Afghan generations.  We will accelerate commercialization of mineral and gas holdings, thus increasing efficiency and improving employment opportunities.  The Government will also seek international investment in untapped mineral and gas holdings in order to optimize the benefits derived from a finite resource base. 

The Ministry of Mines and Industry (MoMI) will be restructured to become more of an enabler and regulator than an implementer, thereby increasing efficiency and improving the industry’s competitiveness.  We will privatize state-owned enterprises to ensure that exploitation of natural resources is premised on financial sustainability, and rehabilitate mapping and surveying services to facilitate mineral exploration.  The Government will strengthen the National Environment Protection Agency (NEPA) to ensure that natural resources are exploited in a sustainable manner with a focus on the well-being of future generations.

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Program 6: Urban Development and Housing 

By end-2010: Municipal governments will have strengthened capacity to manage urban development and to ensure that municipal services are delivered effectively, efficiently, and transparently.  In line with Afghanistan’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), investment in water supply and sanitation will ensure that 50% of households in Kabul and 30% of households in other major urban areas will have access to piped water.

Modern and effective urban services are the basis of well-functioning cities.  Housing development is often a major challenge and component of post-conflict recovery.  The Government’s goal for the urban sector is to develop high quality, sustainable urban management, economic development, and poverty reduction.  Our land titling strategy will promote security of property rights for urban homeowners.  In addition, we will ensure increased and equitable investment in urban centers across the country and promote private sector participation through appropriate partnerships.  Our ability to strengthen the capacity of municipalities to manage development and deliver services effectively, efficiently, and transparently is fundamental to our success.  Specific measures will be taken to stamp out corruption and to develop service-oriented municipal administrations.

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Cross-Cutting Initiatives 

Fundamental to the interventions above is a focus on the following cross-cutting initiatives: 

Initiative 1: Reconceptualize the Government’s Role

Sector wide reforms will ensure that the state plays the role of enabler, facilitator, and regulatory catalyst.  As a result, the private sector and Afghan citizenry will have the necessary frameworks for production and consumption of resources. 

Initiative 2: Create a More Attractive Environment for International Capital

While in the long-term domestic fiscal revenues will finance the development of natural resources and infrastructure, in the short and medium-term the international community must invest considerably to kick-start the process.  This requires a strategic prioritization of international donor funding for key infrastructural and natural resource projects.

Initiative 3: Strengthen Human Capacities

Strengthening human capacities ensures that bureaucratic administration and policy formulation for infrastructure and natural resource management are in line with international practice. 

Initiative 4: Funding and Complete Feasibility Studies for Priority Infrastructure Projects

Progress on initiatives such as power generation and transport infrastructure will be accelerated by focusing on funding and developing prerequisite feasibility studies.  The National Program/Project Support Office will prepare documentation and recruit the necessary technical expertise to accelerate the implementation of these projects.

Initiative 5: Focus on Environmental Sustainability

The Government will develop infrastructure that is vital to the nation’s economic development in a manner that protects our natural environment for current and future generations.

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Useful Links:

Ministry of Communications

Afghanistan Investment and Reconstruction Task Force (AIRTF)

Afghanistan Business Gateway

Afghanistan Geological Survey

U.S. Geological Survey

Energy Information Administration

International Atomic Energy Agency

Rebuilding the Roads of Afghanistan (USAID)

Afghanistan Transport Sector (World Bank)