TOKYO - President Hamid Karzai on Monday urged the international fraternity to extend greater help to his administration in dealing with pervasive administrative corruption in his impoverished country.
A day after donors pledged $16 billion in aid to Afghanistan, the president told a news briefing in Tokyo that he was grateful to the global community for the promises of continued assistance. "I thank all the countries and organizations that have pledged support for Afghanistan."

Following decades of conflict, Karzai said that Afghanistan was rebuilding its civil service, as well as socio-economic infrastructure, but his government could not overcome the problem of graft without cooperation from donors.

War on graft was one of the most crucial tasks for his government, he said, adding the selection process for development projects worth billions of dollars could bring about influence-buying, and that higher salaries for foreigners caused resentment among local workers.

Scheduled to meet the Japanese prime minister later in the day, he went on to remark: "The way donor assistance is delivered, the way it is disbursed in Afghanistan, the projects selected and the manner of contracting … are the issues that we have to address."

The aid pledges went far beyond their expectations and sent a clear message that the world would continue to help Afghanistan even after the withdrawal of most NATO-led troops from the country in 2014, he continued.
While stressing effective utilization of foreign assistance, the donors asked the Afghan government to better its human rights record, ensure a transparent presidential election and initiate effective steps to join the World Trade Organization by the end of 2014.

The donors also put in place a new regime -- called the mutual accountability framework -- to monitor progress toward the goals, with a high-level review meeting scheduled to be held in Britain in 2014. (Pajhwok)