UN envoy: Afghanistan in 2009 – A turning point? is an article By Kai Eide, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Afghanistan, which appeared in the Estonian newspaper “Postimees” and was republished at ReliefWeb.

An Agenda Beyond the Elections

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Over the coming months, we will also have to build on initial progress achieved in the areas of regional cooperation and infrastructure development. The potential for regional cooperation goes way beyond the security sector. Trade, natural resources, energy and water management can bring Afghanistan and its neighbors together in a mutually beneficial way. Investment in key infrastructure programmes, including electricity lines and railway networks, could turn Afghanistan into a corridor for regional economic activities and provide the critical elements for Afghanistan’s own economic development. In those areas, we must be much more ambitious and broaden our perspective beyond the immediate geographical boundaries of Afghanistan itself.
Source: ReliefWeb 2009-08-01