UPDATE ON UZBEKISTAN'S CONTRIBUTIONS TO AFGHAN

UNCLAS TASHKENT 001483 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL NATO ELTN AF UZ SUBJECT: UPDATE ON UZBEKISTAN'S CONTRIBUTIONS TO AFGHAN RECONSTRUCTION ¶1. (U) Summary: Following recent discussions on the subject, the MFA of Uzbekistan provided the Embassy with an update on their involvement in the socio-economic reconstruction of Afghanistan. The contributions of the GOU have been primarily in the area of restoring and rebuilding infrastructure, including cooperation on the development of the International Trans-Afghan Transportation Corridor and facilitation of the shipment of goods through the Hairaton Customs Facility on the Uzbek-Afghan border. The export of electricity from Uzbekistan to Afghanistan has grown steadily over the last three years, with plans to continue increasing the volume of electricity supplied. Finally, a fiber optic communications network connecting Afghanistan and Uzbekistan has been partially completed. End Summary. INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT: TRANSPORTATION AND TRANSIT -------------- -------------- -------------- ¶2. (U) In 2003, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Iran signed a Trilateral Agreement on the creation of the International Trans-Afghan Transportation Corridor (ITTC). The charter of the Interstate Coordination Council (ICC) on the creation of the ITTC was approved in 2005. To date, Uzbekistan has built eleven bridges in the region between Mazar-e-Sharif and Kabul. ¶3. (U) Since the Hairaton Customs Facility in Termez, Uzbekistan, opened in November 2003, more than 6 million tons of humanitarian and other goods have entered Afghanistan through it. The GOU believes that it is providing a valuable service to the international community as a whole by facilitating transshipment of goods to Afghanistan. ENERGY -------------- ¶4. (U) Uzbekistan resumed its export of electricity to Afghanistan in 2002. In the past few years, the volume of electricity that Uzbekistan has supplied to Afghanistan has increased steadily: exports were up from 20 Megawatts (MW) in 2007 to 24 MW in 2008 and are estimated to reach 150 MW by the end of ¶2009. A new power line and a new electricity substation unit were put into operation in 2009 in order to increase Uzbekistan's capacity to send power to Kabul. The GOU expects to export 300MW of energy to Afghanistan in 2010. COMMUNICATIONS -------------- ¶5. (U) The GOU and the IRoA began to cooperate in the area of fiber optic communications in 2008, with the goal of connecting Afghanistan to Uzbekistan's fiber-optic communication system. Cable installation for this project has already been completed within Uzbekistan; on the Afghan side of the border, nine out of a total of 32 planned communication hubs have already been installed. COMMENT -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Comment: Uzbekistan's important, albeit modest contributions to Afghan reconstruction and development are indicators of the caution with which the GOU's leadership approaches the Afghan situation generally. Our challenge is to slowly push the envelope of this engagement and give the Uzbeks a greater stake in helping their Southern neighbor. NORLAND