Uzbekistan new indd

Prospects for the reconstruction of Afghanistan: 
main recommendations
The effectiveness of any efforts targeted at the eco-
nomic reconstruction of Afghanistan will to a large 

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Constraints and Opportunities for Uzbek-Afghan Economic Relations
167
extent be determined by the success or failure of the 
following top-priority measures:
1. Creation of a More Effective International 
Mechanism for the Reconstruction of Afghanistan
It seems to us that the main potential for a fundamen-
tal solution to the problems of Afghanistan lies in the 
creation of a more effective international mechanism 
to implement targeted programs for the reconstruc-
tion of the Afghan economy. Any new program must 
satisfy the following basic conditions: (1) active par-
ticipation by the leading powers, international do-
nors, and Afghanistan’s neighbors; (2) the setting of 
priorities for reconstruction; (3) the greatest possible 
transparency of international money flows; and (4) 
strict control over the use of international financial 
and material resources. Even at the initial stage of 
their implementation, these measures might give a 
powerful impulse to regional economic cooperation. 
From the economic point of view, the most efficient 
way to carry out reconstruction work in northern 
Afghanistan is to involve companies and specialists 
from Uzbekistan.
2. Accelerated Building of Transportation Arteries
The issue of building trans-Afghan transportation 
arteries is of fundamental importance. In thus do-
ing, the idea of creating an international transpor-
tation consortium for Afghanistan would appear 
to be worthy of consideration. The members of the 
consortium could be those states with a direct in-
terest in developing a network of transportation ar-
teries to connect the regions of Central Asia, South 
Asia, and the Middle East by the shortest possible 
routes. The building of trans-Afghan arteries may 
lead to a significant expansion of economic ties 
between Afghanistan and its neighbors. Moreover, 
transportation costs in Afghanistan and in a num-
ber of other countries (Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and 
also countries of South Asia) may fall by over 60 
percent.
This in turn may expand the international 
flow of goods through Afghanistan, which in it-
self will speed up the reconstruction of the coun-
try. For Uzbekistan, for example, a route through 
Afghanistan to ports on the Indian Ocean would 
reduce by more than half the distance to ports on 
the Baltic and Black Seas; the former route would 
also be almost 80 percent shorter than routes to 
ports on the Pacific Ocean. The trans-Afghan 
route of greatest interest to Uzbekistan would start 
at Termez, pass through Mazar-i-Sharif, Shibargan, 
Herat, and Kandahar, and continue to internation-
al seaports in Iran (Chakhbakhar and Bender-
Abbas) and in Pakistan (Karachi). Another vital 
consideration is that development of the Afghan 
transportation infrastructure may be one of the 
decisive factors in normalizing the socio-eco-
nomic situation in Afghanistan, at the same time 
as undermining the positions of extremist forces 
and the drugs business in the country. Turning 
Afghanistan into a transportation hub connecting 
Central Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East is 
objectively in the interests of all strata of Afghan 
society. The large-scale development of transporta-
tion infrastructure could substantially expand the 
circulation of goods among these regions through 
Afghanistan. This will create many new jobs, help 
to solve the problem of unemployment, and poten-
tially lead to a significant raise in the incomes of 
the Afghan population.
3. Development of Industrial and Agricultural 
Cooperation between Afghanistan and Its 
Neighbors
In the course of implementing various international 
projects in Afghanistan, industrial and agricultural 
cooperation between Afghanistan and its neighbors 
may give significant impetus to the country’s eco-
nomic development. Thus, Uzbekistan together with 
other states might assume responsibility for a broad 
spectrum of work to restore Afghan agriculture, in-
frastructure, and industrial and social facilities. This 
would substantially increase the effectiveness of all 
international aid to Afghanistan, and especially to 
the country’s northern provinces. One reason for 
this is that Afghanistan’s main industrial facilities, 
which in the 1970s (before military-political desta-
bilization) accounted for over 60 percent of GDP, 
used to be concentrated in the northern provinces. 
There are also specific opportunities to accelerate 
the reconstruction process in the agrarian sector. 
A promising approach might be for Afghanistan 
and neighboring states to jointly establish bilater-
al and multilateral agricultural holding companies 
specializing in animal husbandry (for instance, the 
breeding of Astrakhan sheep) and the cultivation 
and processing of cotton, fruits, and vegetables. 
This would make it possible to offer Afghan farmers 
alternative crops to replace the opium poppy—fur-
thermore, crops that would be in stable demand on 
the world market.

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Vladimir Paramonov and Alexey Strokov