VZCZCXRO1038
PP RUEHDBU RUEHIK RUEHPOD RUEHPW RUEHSL RUEHYG
DE RUEHBUL #1916/01 2001413
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 191413Z JUL 09 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0232
INFO RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC 0844
RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE
RUEABND/DEA HQS WASHINGTON DC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KABUL 001916 
 
DEPT FOR SRAP, SCA/FO, SCA/RA, AND SCA/A 
DEPT PASS FOR AID/ANE 
DEPT PASS USTR FOR DELANEY AND DEANGELIS 
DEPT PASS OPIC 
DEPT PASS FOR TDA FOR STEIN AND GREENIP 
USOECD FOR ENERGY ATTACHE 
CENTCOM FOR CSTC-A 
NSC FOR JWOOD 
TREASURY FOR JCASAL, ABAUKOL, AWELLER, AND MNUGENT 
COMMERCE FOR HAMROCK-MANN, DEES, AND FONOVICH 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O.  12958 N/A 
TAGS: EAID EFIN ECON PGOV AF
SUBJECT: Twelfth Meeting of the Afghanistan Joint Coordination and 
Monitoring Board (JCMB) 
 
REF: Kabul 1734 
 
SUMMARY 
 
¶1. (U) JCMB-XII approved the Afghan government's Civilian Technical 
Assistance Plan, and three donors, including the U.S., pledged 
specific support for some of the 55 urgently needed technical 
advisors.  A new TA Task Force will carry implementation forward and 
take account of any donor concerns.  The meeting also welcomed the 
GIRoA's recently improved revenue performance and approved a Revenue 
Action Plan of steps to improve performance further.  Senior Afghan 
officials stressed that the Afghan army and police would spare no 
effort to ensure a secure and fair election, and that the GIRoA was 
cooperating closely with ISAF in this effort.  The JCMB also 
approved the Commerce Minister's plans to streamline and reform 
business licensing, a key aspect of private sector development. 
Several donors said the JCMB is becoming a more effective forum for 
Afghan-international community collaboration, in part because the 
GIRoA is producing better, more supportable policy plans.  End 
Summary 
 
¶2. (U) The twelfth meeting of the Joint Coordination and Monitoring 
Board (JCMB) convened July 8 in Kabul, co-chaired by UN SRSG Kai 
Eide and Afghan Finance Minister Omar Zakhilwal, the latter's first 
JCMB as co-chair.  The U.S. was represented by Ambassador Wayne, 
Coordinating Director for Development, Assistance, and Economic 
Affairs.  Eide opened the meeting by citing the significant progress 
since the last JCMB meeting, including in agriculture and private 
sector development, based on improved GIRoA plans and firm 
international community (IC) support for those plans.  It is 
important, he said, to keep up this positive momentum through the 
election campaign and beyond.  Eide also welcomed new JCMB members 
Denmark, Poland, and UAE.  Zakhilwal also noted the more active 
GIRoA leadership in working with donors. 
 
CIVILIAN TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PLAN 
 
¶3. (U) Zakhilwal presented the GIRoA's proposed Civilian Technical 
Assistance Plan (CTAP) and noted that the Development Standing 
Committee had broadly endorsed the proposal at its June 23 meeting 
(reftel).  The plan asks donors in the first phase to support 
funding of 55 urgently needed technical advisor positions.  A 
Civilian TA Task Force will be set up to decide delivery mechanisms 
that accord with the four principles the GIRoA has articulated for 
TA.  In the second phase the GIRoA aims to establish a National 
Capacity Development and Technical Assistance Program (NCDTAP) that 
would pool donor funds to be used by line ministries to enlist the 
TA they need to implement the ANDS.  Zakhilwal said the Task Force 
would hold its first meeting July 16. 
 
¶4. (U) Donors broadly endorsed CTAP.  Ambassador Wayne welcomed 
GIRoA efforts to prioritize its requests, expressed support for 
CTAP's principles, and said the U.S. wants to align our support with 
them as we increase civilian TA.  He said the U.S. would provide up 
to $30 million to CTAP over two years.  The number of advisors this 
would fund would depend on the delivery mechanism we select 
(septel).  The U.S. supports the principle of hiring qualified 
regional advisors for some tasks.  The only other countries to make 
specific commitments were Canada ($500K) and the UK (15 of the 55 
advisors, amount unspecified).  Most other donors expressed general 
support for CTAP, though the World Bank reiterated its concerns 
about the pooled funding aspect of NCDTAP.  While noting these 
concerns, Eide declared the plan approved and said the new Task 
Force would take implementation forward and take account of any 
donor concerns. 
 
REVENUE ACTION PLAN 
 
¶5. (U) Deputy Finance Minister Sabit providQ fresh evidence of the 
GIRoA's improved revenue collection, described the Revenue Action 
Plan to improve performance further, and noted those areas where the 
plan needs donor assistance.  He said the average domestic revenue 
collected so far this fiscal year (since March 20) is Afs 5.3 
billion ($106 million) per month, up from Afs 3.1 billion ($63 
million) per month in the same period last year.  Zakhilwal repeated 
his prediction that the GIRoA can surpass its IMF target of Afs 50 
billion ($1 billion) this year. 
 
KABUL 00001916  002 OF 003 
 
 
 
¶6. (U) The U.S. and other donors strongly welcomed the improved 
performance and the new plan.  Ambassador Wayne praised the good 
initial revenue improvement, welcomed MOF's commitment to enable 
donors to review performance going forward, and called for further 
structural reforms, including transparent recruitment of tax 
collectors.  He said the U.S. would continue to support increased 
revenue generation through programs run by USAID and the Border 
Management Task Force, and urged other donors also to extend 
support.  The JCMB approved the Revenue Action Plan.  (Comment: In a 
separate dinner conversation, Zakhilwal told Ambassador Wayne that 
he fully intended to keep squeezing corruption out of the system and 
to make structural changes to perpetuate the increased revenues.  He 
also said he was working hard not just to meet, but to surpass IMF 
targets for this year.) 
 
ELECTION SECURITY 
 
¶7. (U) Defense Minister Wardak and Interior Minister Atmar gave the 
JCMB a report on plans to ensure election security.  Wardak stressed 
that the ANSF would spare no effort to ensure a secure and fair 
election, and that the GIRoA was cooperating closely with ISAF in 
this effort.  He said the government expects the enemy will try to 
disrupt the election.  The GIRoA faces many challenges but has 
developed plans to tackle them.  In all some 60,000 ANP and 47,000 
ANA personnel would be deployed for election security.  ANSF would 
be in the lead, with ISAF in a supporting role, including by 
providing airlift. 
 
¶8. (U) Atmar noted the ANP's challenge of remaining neutral and 
professional.  He said he had issued a directive to all ANP to be 
neutral, in support of the President's analogous decree.  Some 36 
ANP officers have received warnings about suspected partiality on 
the job.  Atmar also called for donors to support a joint ANP-donor 
monitoring system, led by UNAMA, to promote ANP neutrality.  He 
noted the acute shortage of police in some provinces (SE 6,000 
short; West 1,200 short) for the upcoming elections and that the 
GIRoA will rely on community-based security in some places.  Atmar 
particularly highlighted the shortage of female police and urged 
that solutions be found - possibly hiring teachers and students - to 
recruit and train a female cadre prior to elections.  COMISAF 
General McChrystal said the coordination between ISAF and ANSF is 
very strong and that ISAF will commit every asset necessary to 
support ANSF efforts to ensure election security. 
 
AGRICULTURE 
 
¶9. (U) Agriculture Minister Rahimi gave a progress report on the 
five priorities it presented at JCMB-XI in April.  He said donors 
have pledged $17.5 million for urgent wheat seed assistance, short 
of the $32.4 million requested.  A project to set up a one-stop shop 
at MAIL for leasing government-owned land is being developed.  MAIL 
still seeks firm funding, and donors' cooperation on providing data, 
for its plans to research farm credit facilities.  Partial funding 
has been identified for a "change management" project at MAIL, i.e. 
ministry restructuring.  And UK DFID will provide BPS 30 million 
over three years for the Comprehensive Agricultural and Rural 
Development facility.  Rahimi also noted the bumper harvest this 
year.  Wheat production averaged 3 metric tons per hectare, he said. 
 If Afghanistan could raise this to 3.5 tons/ha, which only required 
more agricultural inputs, it would be self-sufficient in grain. 
 
¶10. (U) SRSG Eide urged donors to fund MAIL's immediate priorities 
and to supply information to the farm credit mapping exercise, which 
could be a model.  Ambassador Wayne said support for agriculture was 
a key pillar of the U.S. strategy for Afghanistan.  Afghan 
leadership was our guiding principle, and the U.S. would 
significantly increase its agricultural assistance. 
 
PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT: LICENSING REFORM 
 
¶11. (U) Commerce Minister Shahrani described his plans to streamline 
and reform procedures for business licensing, one of his ministry's 
five priorities for private sector development.  He also noted a 
proposed new "business plan" for MOCI (ministry restructuring), 
which the Minister discussed in greater detail with donors at a 
separate meeting on July 12.  Shahrani plans to begin the licensing 
 
KABUL 00001916  003 OF 003 
 
 
reform effort in his own ministry and then expand the effort to 
other ministries that issue licenses.  Hence he would need cabinet 
approval for the plan, which he secured at the cabinet's July 13 
meeting.  Donors supported the plan, and the JCMB approved it. 
 
JCMB ANNUAL REPORT 
 
¶12. (U) SRSG Eide noted that the draft JCMB Annual Report covering 
the period since March 2008 has been circulated and invited donor 
comments by July 15.  The report discusses progress or the lack 
thereof during this period in the JCMB priorities of donor 
coordination and the JCMB mechanism, ANDS implementation and aid 
effectiveness, security sector reform, sub-national governance, 
anti-corruption, agriculture, private sector development, and 
counter-narcotics.  Looking ahead, the report argues that the period 
following upcoming elections offers a window of opportunity for the 
JCMB to drive issues of the broader governance and development 
agenda in Afghanistan forward, as agreed at the 2008 Paris and 2009 
Hague conferences.  It urges that joint Afghan-IC efforts be focused 
on implementation of a limited number of high-priority aspects of 
the ANDS, and that the JCMB play a more energetic role in 
identifying these priorities.  At the same time, the report calls 
for further empowering the GIRoA to lead in identifying priorities 
where coordinated donor assistance should be aligned through the 
JCMB mechanism.  The report also calls for institution building at 
central and sub-national level to be an overarching priority in the 
coming year.  The Canadian and Dutch ambassadors, among others, 
intervened to say that the JCMB has significantly improved its 
performance over the last year and is now a much more useful and 
productive forum. 
 
ANDS ANNUAL REPORT 
 
¶13. (U) Zakhilwal noted that the GIRoA's first annual report on ANDS 
has been circulated in draft to ministries and the IMF and World 
Bank.  A short summary was provided to donors, and a donor meeting 
would be convened by end-July to approve the report and urge donors 
to align their aid programs with the ANDS.  The ANDS annual report 
is a condition for receiving official debt reduction under the 
Highly Indebted Poor Countries initiative. 
 
EIKENBERRY