EU Commissioner Piebalgs to attend the Tokyo Conference on Afghanistan: "The EU will remain a steadfast partner for Afghanistan's stabilisation and development"
On the 8th July, EU Commissioner for Development, Andris Piebalgs will attend the international Conference on Afghanistan in Tokyo, Japan. The International Conference will take stock of the country's reconstruction process and agree on how to implement development priorities for Afghanistan from 2015 to 2025. He will present the EU's vision of a consolidated partnership with Afghanistan in order to strengthen the country's development.
Ahead of the conference, Commissioner Piebalgs stated: "Afghanistan needs to take full ownership of the reconstruction of its country to make the "transformation decade" a success. The EU has the firm intention to stand alongside Afghanistan in this process, together with the international community, and to maintain its substantial support. I'll confirm the EU will maintain its current level of €200 million per year, as minimum. However, Afghanistan needs to fully live up to its commitments by reforming its public finance management, its public administration and its economy while fighting corruption. The government must reinforce its credibility towards the people of Afghanistan and be able to provide the basic social services. We are ready to support it in this endeavour in a spirit of mutual accountability."
Full version of the press release:
http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/12/750&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en
Factsheet on EU Cooperation with Afghanistan:
http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/12/527
