Canberra - The Afghan delegation comprising of Deputy Defence Minister, Lt. General Iqbal Ali Naderi and Lt. Colonel Sayed Hasib Sediqi, together with the Afghan Ambassador to the Commonwealth of Australia, HE Wahidullah Waissi, met with Senator the Hon Marise Payne, Minister for Defense of Australia at her office in the Parliament House on 22 May 2018. 

Both sides discussed enhansing defence and security cooperation in the areas of military education, women empowerment and equipment. "Australia will remain committed to a stable and secure Afghanistan and continues to support the NATO-led train, advise and assist mission called Resolute Support." Defense Minister Payne said. She also emphasised on her government's committment to support Afghanistan on the battle against international terrorism. She reiterated support for increasing the number of students at the Australian military colleges. 

Lt. General Naderi thanked the Australian government for their support through the Resolute Support mission and for the military education opportunties provided for Afghan students. He discussed enhansing military education for Afghan femal cadets. 

Two Afghan cadets already studying at the Australian Royal Military College (RMC) Duntroon in 2018-2019. Afghanistan will have more students at the Australian Command and Staff Course (ACSC) and Center for Defence and Strategic Studies (CDSS) for the years 2018 and beyond. 

Around 300 Australian Defense Force (ADF) members from the Royal Australian Navy, the Australian Army, the Royal Australian Air Force and Defence civilians are deployed in Afghanistan as part of Operation HIGHROAD. ADF personnel perform in a variety of specialist and advisory roles as embeds within Headquarters Resolute Support in Kabul; the Train Advise Assist Command – South in Kandahar and Train Advise Assist Command-Air in Kabul. ADF embeds work with members of the coalition, Afghan National Defence and Security Forces (ANDSF), ANDSF and Afghan security ministries to assist in institutional capacity building within the Afghan security institutions.

Ambassador’s Message on World Press Freedom Day 2018

Today, May 3, 2018 marks the World Press Freedom Day. Freedom of Press has been one of the key pillars of democracy in Afghanistan. Since 2001, the government of Afghanistan has been committed to protecting the freedom of press. Media including press plays a vital role, through neutral reporting, is not only sharing information but also bringing changes in political, social, economic and cultural areas. 

Afghanistan has achieved major milestones since 2001. Currently, the country has more than 55 local TV channels, around 170 radio stations, 1500 newspapers, and thousands of printing presses; the majority of which are owned by the private sector. 

In 2015, the Government established an Oversight Commission on Access to Information, and in 2017 launched a National Strategy on Access to Information. According to UNESCO’s 2017 ranking, Afghanistan is ranked forth in terms of freedom of media among 13 South Asian and Central Asian countries. Similarly, Reporters Without Borders Organization labeled Afghanistan as one of the most accountable governments to media.  

A significant portion of credit related to press and media achievements in Afghanistan goes to its brave journalists and reporters, without whom Afghanistan would not be standing where it is today.  They have been in the frontline. The recent inhumane terrorist attack on journalists on Monday 30 April 2018 in Kabul and Khost, which took the lives of 10 competent, dedicated and young professional journalist is an evidence of their sacrifice towards freedom of expression and press. Unfortunately, around 100 journalists and reporters have lost their lives, while on duty, since 2001 in Afghanistan. 

While I strongly condemn the killing of journalists in recent attacks and brutal and heartless attacks on our civilians, I should reassure that the Government of Afghanistan is committed to protecting the journalists and reporters and will continue to support them and the freedom of press. 

Wahidullah Waissi

Ambassador

Afghan envoy to Fiji, HE Wahidullah Waissi, called on HE Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, Acting Prime Minister, Attorney-General, Minister for Justice, Anti-Corruption, Public Enterprises, Communications, Civil Aviation, Tourism, Industry & Trade of Republic of Fiji in his office in Suva on 25 April 2018.

Both sides discussed their nation's interest on shared global responsibilities and the challenges that small and land-locked countries are facing towards threats from security, global finance and climate change. 

Ambassador Waissi emphasized on enhancing bilateral relationship in the areas of trade and finance. Afghanistan has the capacity to export its fine food products to Fiji that includes Saffron and Dry Fruits. Fiji is the largest sugar producer among the Pacific Islands. This could be a potential area of trade cooperation. 

Afghanistan has short history of diplomatic relations with the Fijian Republic. It started in 2010 through both nation's permanent representative's efforts at the United Nation.

Canberra - Keynote address By HE Wahidullah Waissi, Ambassador of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to the Commonwealth of Australia On the occasion of the 98thAnniversary of Afghanistan’s Independence Day

***

In the Name of Allah, the most Compassionate, the most Merciful

Good evening and welcome to the 98thAnniversary of Afghanistan’s Independence Day.

It’s really honored to see friends and supporters of Afghanistan under one roof.

I would like to especially thank and acknowledge presence of some of our distinguished guests:

Vice Admiral Ray GRIGGS, Vice Chief of Defence Force - representing Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin AC, Chief of the Defence Force

Ms Penny Williams PSM - Deputy Secretary of Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Mr Phillip Stonehouse - Acting Chief of Protocol, DFAT

His Excellency Mr Abel GUTERRES, the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassador for TIMOR-L'ESTE, and Mrs Ana Mok GUTERRES

Excellencies, friends of Afghanistan and my fellow Afghans who travelled all the way from different cities of Australia and New Zealand,

Thank you for making your time to join us at this joyful day. 

Celebrating the 98th Anniversary of independence at the National Gallery of Australia lifts the spirit and ignites new ideas. 

The Gallery's superb collection, including the 12 artifacts/statues from Afghanistan land at the Asian section, invites the visitor to reflect not only upon the art and the artist but more so on the human spirit and its ability to create and to rise above the challenges and tragedies of daily life.

Thanks to the Director of the National Gallery of Australia, Mr. Gerard Vaughan, who has introduced those 12 artifacts and offered his support for greater mutual cultural activities in future. 

Dear friends,

We have just watched the journey of Afghans in Australia since 1860s. I am delighted to say that over 80 thousand Afghans live in Australia today. 

These are immense source of pride to us. They are ambassadors of Australia to Afghanistan and Afghanistan ambassadors to our culture and proud civilization of tolerance, engagement and future possibilities. 

But we also just watched a glance of 157 years of relationship between Australia and Afghanistan only in about 5 minutes. 

This relation was kept with hearts and cherished with souls at the cost of sacrifices for freedom throughout the history. 

Let me begin by thanking you – the men and women of the world community and my Australian friends. You have stood with us, as we stand with you, to end the senseless violence in Kabul, in Sar-e-Pul province, in Barcelona, in London, in Turku of Finland, in Iraq, in Syria, and many other targeted places in recent days.

The heinous attacks are just an attack on the peaceful citizens and insult the very concept of justice. They are also attack on the accepted norms, conventions, treaties, and cultures of global diplomacy. 

“The rebels say they are fighting a religious war, but Islam is a religion of peace, and it is Muslims – Afghan Muslims - innocent Muslim men, women, and children, who they are killing, by the thousand.  Narcotics, terror, extortion; our religion has nothing but contempt for these tools of modern day terrorism. They are terrorists, they are just criminals nothing more.”

Afghanistan stood bravely against the Soviet occupation and did not give up until its vicious empire collapsed and today stands at the grand battlefield of fight against international terrorism, extremism and violence in our land until we reach the victory. 

This is who we are as a collective people and what our country means to us.So, today the fight for freedom continues. 

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Our journey of full sovereignty started in 1919 led by a reformist and a visionary young leader, King Amanullah. For this, we fought to make our foreign policy independent of the British Empire and keep our independency moving. We began our path to modernization and self-reliance.

Our spirit of determination is reinforced by our young generation, their energy and thirst for peace and prosperity.

For the past 16 years, Afghanistan has worked and endured many sacrifices so it can move forward as a new democracy. 

Every achievement we have made — and there have been many — takes us farther along that journey: Freedom of speech, freedom of the press, a national constitution, human rights, women empowerment, rule of law, anti corruption and so much more. Our national priorities to end poverty and attain peace are advancing.

This shows that an Afghan spirit is one of resilience and determination. And we are re-covering.

Distinguished participants,

The April 2017 visit of President Ashraf Ghani from Australia and on the very month, the visit of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull put a new milestone in our enduring partnership.

Both countries are already cooperating in the defense, counter terrorism and military cooperation. The recent trips made it untraditional and defined new version of collaboration in the areas of water management, agriculture, mining and education.

Afghanistan has large reserves of minerals, coal, and strategic metals such as lithium, copper, and gold. 

We anticipate a major expansion of mining offers under a transparent and favorable investment regime that encouraging investment in state-of the art extractive technology and legal exploration.

Water is another major resource for Afghanistan. We are already investing in dams and irrigation infrastructure to raise agricultural productivity, and as technical designs are completed we will be accelerating investment in this sector that is key for both growth and poverty reduction. This could potentially increase our growth by a further 3% to 6% in near future. 

From a water-locked Australia to a land-locked Afghanistan, our partnership will affect positively many lives of people. Because our partnership is around values; values of democracies, values of rule of law, values of empowering of women and youth, and values of being useful participants in a global process. 

Our bonds that have been established in the 19th century, I am sure it will go in the picture 200 years from now, would be of two proud partners embracing each other in consolidating and deepening relationship.

Our cultural bond in modern day relationship is also distinguishable. As a part of our mutual cultural pride and contemporary people to people contacts, I was pleased to witness four book launches on Afghanistan only in August from the Australian and Afghan-Australian authors, whom we are privileged of having three of them today at this very reception. 

With this thought it is my hope and sincere wish that this Anniversary is a catalyst for new opportunities of connecting cultures, economies and indeed our communities. 

Long live our friendship! 

Thank you.

Melbourne - Remarks of HE Wahidullah Waissi, Ambassador of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan at the 3rd Australian-Afghan Business Council Conference

I am delighted to have the opportunity to address the Australian-Afghan Business Council Conference, the third in Melbourne, a city, which represents a prominent model of investment environment.

I have the honor of being joined today by Afghan government dignitaries and Afghan private-sector representatives who have one common objective – to provide you with an opportunity to gain a foothold in the fast-growing emerging market of Afghanistan.

Let me extend my cordial gratitude to the Australian-Afghan Business Council and the co-sponsors for organizing this important and timely event, which also aims, among other deliverables, to help stabilize Afghanistan through foreign investment.

I would also like to welcome all participants and thank them for taking interest in attending this important gathering. Let me assure you of the Afghan Government’s unreserved support to this initiative. Our new plans and programs will allow Afghanistan to gradually reduce our reliance on international assistance through private sector led growth, increasing revenues and building capacities.

Today’s event marks the private sector’s potential for generating wealth and new jobs in Australia and Afghanistan and across the wider region – to the mutual benefit of the Afghan people and the investors we’re inviting to invest in Afghanistan.

Three weeks ago President Ashraf Ghani had a fruitful visit of Australia, met the Australian government, civil society, scholars and youth. The President had a discussion with the Prime Minister Turnbull and his economic team on future of economic cooperation in the areas of agriculture, scientific research, mining, livestock and education between two countries. There are lots of potentials on these areas and we really need to work together to define its PPP parts. My colleagues, who have travelled all the way from Kabul to represent the key areas of private sector investment, will discuss in detail.

It will not be a surprise for you to hear that the private sector in Afghanistan works well in certain ways, but in a range of additional ways it could do with some improvement. At this juncture, Afghanistan needs to focus most on not only on growing but also diversifying its economy.

Growth and diversification are crucial for providing revenue for the government on the one hand, while providing jobs and livelihoods to average Afghans on the other.

t present the agricultural sector dominates Afghanistan’s GDP growth, but it is a largely informal and largely un-taxable part of economy, instead of being a major export sector it tends to support rural communities.

Our energy-rich partners in Central Asia are being buffeted by a drawn out fall in oil prices, and around the world as well as our own region numerous countries are experiencing excessive volatility in their stock markets. Currency pressures are continuing, and competitive devaluations have become a valid concern. And for a number of years now, overall commodities markets have actually been contracting. Trade, transit, and the extraction are the keys to our economic future in Central and South Asia.

In terms of Afghanistan, it is the energy and mineral extractives industry that holds the greatest potential for robust exports, steady returns on investment, and consistent GDP growth. However, even if we assume investment on a substantial scale, this will still take 8-12 years for the economy to begin to turn around. In the meantime, with only a gradual ramping up of major extraction, Afghanistan needs to focus more fully in the near term on transit.

Although the stormy weather our regional partners are experiencing is slightly different, they are in need a similar path to calmer economic waters. Short of a turn-around in commodities markets, they have just as much to gain from increasing cross-border trade, transit, and investment as we do.

Over the last few years, there has been a quiet transformation occurring in the county. The Afghan government, in partnership with the private sector, has drafted and enacted more than 20 business-friendly pieces of legislation that form the basis of any modern, vibrant trading regime – including customs reform, trade facilitation, intellectual property rights, food safety, and standardization. The passage of those laws, and other trade-related reforms, culminated in Afghanistan becoming the 164th member of the World Trade Organization in July 2016.

Afghanistan integrated into the global economy and sent a clear signal to the world that the country is committed to establishing a predictable, cost-efficient trade environment conducive to investment.

In the public sector we tend not to be conditioned to think in terms of the private sector. But in Afghanistan and around the region it is high time to unleash the private sector. We public officials need to spend more time with business leaders. We need to better understand their perspective, commit ourselves to taking care of their needs. They have the capital, but we can provide some of the software changes in law, policy, and regulations that businesses need in order to put their capital to work on infrastructure hardware. Thus, it is not the case that the space for public sector actors will be entirely crowded out by private sector actors over time.

With public-private project partnerships being touted as the wave of the future in our region, certainly traditional donors will continue to have an important role to play. IFIs in particular are often very active in this regard, and here in Afghanistan the PPP law is on the verge of being completed to take one example of necessary software.

The total investments during these years exceeded 12 billion dollars and we are pleased to see that these businesses are growing and have created a mutually beneficial outcome for Afghanistan and its neighboring countries in the region. To fulfill these new initiatives, it is clear that the private sector must be fully engaged, both in the early stages of planning, as well as overall project implementation.

Despite the high levels of return on investments and our efforts and measures to create enabling environment for investment, one of the major factors, which has a significant impact on the level of investor interest in Afghanistan is concern over security. While it is true that there are certain areas in Afghanistan where the security situation is not ideal, we should remember that these areas represent a small part of the country. The government of Afghanistan is endeavoring to ensure the security and safety of the population, infrastructure and investments in all other parts of the country while striving to restore complete security to all provinces in this process.

I would like to draw your attention to one important aspect of an inter-linked relationship between economic growth and security. I believe greater investments results in increased economic national activities in any country including - but not limited to - additional revenues, job creation, income generation opportunities which in turn leads to increased prosperity and service delivery. It is widely recognized, and we have noticed throughout history, that greater wealth creation and prosperity has a direct impact on improving security in a country and within its region. So it is important to note that investors who choose to invest in Afghanistan will not only be rewarded with significant returns on their investments, but they will also play a vital role in the restoration of peace and security within the region.

In conclusion, I would like to assure you of the Afghan Government’s active and substantial support to the private sector commercial investment with particular focus on the leading sub-sectors. This support will include, for example, considerably more focused investment promotion activities, more effective incentives and the expansion of opportunities for public-private partnerships.

Potential investors will be provided with better information and data on business opportunities. Access to essential factors of production, such as land, skilled labor and financial resources will be substantially improved. So let me end by wishing you a successful meeting with concrete, positive outcomes.

Thank you.

Canberra - Ambassador of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, HE Wahidullah Waissi and the Embassy team celebrated International Day of Nawroz at the Embassy of Afghanitan in Canberra. The reception was including all tastes of Nawroz, the first day of the solar year, as the culture of Afghanistan offers. 

More than 180 visitors visited and participated at this celebration with their families and friends. 

Canberra -  During President Ashraf Ghani’s visit, both governments signed a memorandum of understanding for a Afghanistan-Australia Development Partnership 2017-2020 ($320 million over 4 years, 2017-2020), re-affirming Australia’s funding commitments made at the Brussels Conference on Afghanistan (October 2016).

Under this Partnership, both sides agreed to establish new areas of cooperation, including an economic infrastructure advisory facility to scope and develop critical economic infrastructure in partnership with international development banks. Both Governments also agreed a range of measures to empower women and girls, improve agricultural productivity and the management of water, train Afghan civil servants and support anti-corruption initiatives.

KABUL – Deputy Foreign Minister Mr. Hekmat Khalil Karzai met this afternoon with the Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Ms Frances Adamson in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Referring to the important relations between the two countries, Mr. Karzai said that the cooperation of Australia over the last one and a half decade has positive effects on the lives the Afghan people.

Mr. Karzai also provided information on the current political and security situation of the country; achievements of the Afghan government in the fields of good governance, counter terrorism, peace process, regional cooperation and the fight against corruption, as well as assured of the Afghan government commitment to take further steps in this regards.

In return, Ms. Adamson reassured of her country’s continued cooperation with Afghanistan in different spheres, and added the commitment that Australia has given in international conferences to cooperation with Afghanistan will be implement to improve security and provide assistance to the Afghan people.

The President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Mohammad Ashraf Ghani received the Prime Minister of Australia Malcolm Turnbull and a high-ranking delegation.

Both sides talked over the expansion of bilateral ties and Australian assistance with Afghanistan in a meeting in the Presidential Palace.

The Prime Minister of Australia expressed his condolences and sympathies to the President and people of Afghanistan over the latest terrorist attack on 209 Shaheen military corps.

Mr Turnbull said that he is interested in establishing relations between Australian and Afghan universities in order to encourage bilateral cooperation in the areas of mines, water management, project management, program management and health services.

President Ghani, in his turn, described Australia as a historical friend of Afghanistan. The President thanked Australia for its assistance and cooperation with Afghanistan in different areas.

Afghanistan and Australia have excellent and friendly relations. President Ghani recently visited Australia where agreements in the areas of technical and scientific cooperation were signed. Also, a MoU worth AUD 320 Mil was signed by both countries in accordance with commitments of Brussels Conference, during this visit.