A/RES/66/13
to foster trust and cooperation with each other, as well as recent cooperation
initiatives developed by the countries concerned and regional organizations,
including the trilateral summits of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Turkey; Afghanistan,
the Islamic Republic of Iran and Pakistan; Pakistan, Afghanistan and the United
States of America; and Afghanistan, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates; and the
quadrilateral summits of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and the Russian
Federation, as well as those of the Tripartite Commission, comprising Afghanistan,
Pakistan and the Assistance Force, and the European Union, the Organization of
Islamic Cooperation, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and the Shanghai Cooperation
Organization;
85. Also welcomes the Conference on Security and Cooperation in the Heart
of Asia, and encourages Afghanistan and its regional partners to actively endeavour
to implement confidence-building measures within the framework set out in the
Istanbul Process on Regional Security and Cooperation for a Secure and Stable
Afghanistan, adopted on 2 November 2011; 13
86. Expresses its appreciation for all efforts to increase regional economic
cooperation aimed at promoting economic cooperation between Afghanistan, regional
neighbours, international partners and financial institutions, recognizes, inter alia, the
important role of the Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan, the
Economic Cooperation Organization, the Central Asian Regional Economic
Cooperation Programme, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, as
well as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the European Union and the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in promoting the development of
Afghanistan, and looks forward to the Fifth Regional Economic Cooperation
Conference on Afghanistan, to be held in Tajikistan on 26 and 27 March 2012;
87. Welcomes and urges further efforts to strengthen the process of regional
economic cooperation, including measures to facilitate regional trade and transit,
including through regional and bilateral transit trade agreements, expanded consular
visa cooperation and facilitation of business travel, to expand trade, to increase
foreign investments and to develop infrastructure, including infrastructural
connectivity, energy supply, transport and integrated border management, with a
view to promoting sustainable economic growth and the creation of jobs in
Afghanistan, noting the historic role of Afghanistan as a land bridge in Asia;
88. Encourages the Group of Eight countries to continue to stimulate and
support cooperation between Afghanistan and its neighbours through mutual
consultation and agreement, including on development projects in areas such as
infrastructural connectivity, border management and economic development, and in
this regard looks forward to the creation of the Afghan rail authority announced at
the regional rail conference in Paris on 4 and 5 July 2011;
Counter-narcotics
89. Welcomes the efforts of the Government of Afghanistan in fighting drug
production in Afghanistan, takes note of the report of the United Nations Office on
Drugs and Crime, the Afghanistan Opium Survey 2011, released in December
2011, 14 reiterates its deep concern about the increase in the cultivation and
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14
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See A/66/601-S/2011/767.
Available from www.unodc.org/unodc/en/crop-monitoring/index.html.