Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Kabul (BNA) President Hamid Karzai chaired plenary meeting of the council of ministers at the presidential palace yesterday.
To start with the CM discussed usage of foreign aid and assigned the ministries of finance and foreign affairs to reach understanding in coordination meetings with the donor countries so that they render their assistance considering the principles of the national sovereignty of Afghanistan and they should expend their commitments made at the international conferences, through the national budget of Afghanistan.
The CM also advised all the government organs to channel attraction of the aid of donor countries through the ministry of finance and avoid direct contracts with the foreign donor countries.
The meeting also instructed the Ministry of foreign affairs and the national security council to pursue the issue of hanging of six Afghan refugees in Iran and other Afghan nationals passing prisons terms who either are sentenced to capital punishment of long term imprisonment through the diplomatic channels with the Iranian side and exert all possible efforts for solving those issues.
Meanwhile, the framework for dissolution of the provincial reconstruction team (PRT) was taken up by the local organs department chairman and he stressed that in the light of the decree No. 45, this frame has been prepared with the cooperation of ministries of finance, economy, interior affairs and other related organs that aim of which preservation of security gains and development projects at local level, attaining of assurance for creation of no problems after their withdrawals, replacement of the structure to the permanent government entities and specifying the role of the ministries in the provincial projects based on four main activities like the infrastructural projects, support towards preservation of logistical and maintenance, technical support and transfer of equipment of the PRT teams.
The CM adopted the prepared framework and instructed the ministries of economy, finance and the independent local organs to implement the framework.
The CM also discussed the resolutions No. 19, 20, and 21 of the Economic committee of the council of ministers in the following manners.
Initially, Minister of Urban development presented the Master plans for the cities of Kabul, Herat, Bamyan, Jalalabad, Mazari-e-Sharif, Kunduz and Kandahar.
The CM called the master plans as preconditions for socioeconomic development for the coming generations and assigned the urban development ministry to specify the main points within the plans including all requirements of a modern city and present them to an extraordinary meeting of the CM that will be held in the coming week.
Minister of Finance presented the draft of the proposal for struggle against economic crimes and stressed that this is the draft strategy in the light of which Afghanistan will be enabled to detect, prevent, investigate and follow up even complicated economic crimes.
It should be noted that the economic crimes include banking fraud, money laundry, avoiding payment of taxes and custom duties, illegal trade, administrative corruption and terrorism.
The council of minister adopted the proposal and assigned the finance ministry to implement the proposal. Three international conventions presented by foreign minister were also adopted.
