CAIRO: In a bid to provide assistance to countries in need, the Egyptian ministry of foreign affairs has stepped up efforts to support and aid the growth of neighboring third-world countries. Egypt's latest stab at support has led the country in extending a helping hand to Afghanistan as part of international efforts to reconstruct the war-torn nation. Most recently, Egypt participated in the 2006 International Conference of Afghanistan in London, which was held from Jan. 31 - Feb. 1, where the country reiterated its keenness to train the Afghani police force in several fields. Assistant Foreign Minister for Asian Affairs, Ambassador Ezzat Saad, was delegated by the Foreign Minister to represent Egypt at the conference, which was inaugurated by the British Prime Minister, the Afghan President, as well as UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The main aim of the conference was to launch the Afghanistan Compact, an agreement created to affirm the commitment of the government of Afghanistan to work toward conditions where the Afghani people can live under good governance and human rights protection, and enjoy sustainable economic and social development. Launched on Jan. 31 2006, the compact will establish a new coordination and monitoring mechanism in the hopes of achieving a greater synergy of efforts between the Afghan government and the international community, the latter led by the United Nations. The conference also set the framework for international community engagement in Afghanistan for the next five years. This is not the first attempt by Egypt to assist Afghanistan. In fact, Egypt has offered aid to Afghanistan through the Egyptian Fund for Technical Cooperation (EFTC - a subsidiary of the Egyptian ministry of foreign affairs) with the commonwealth countries in various fields, such as infrastructure, education and technical assistance. EFTC was also one of the implementing agencies used by the ministry to drive the Egypt-Japan Triangular Technical Program for the promotion of South-South Cooperation in Africa. In order to promote capacity building of human resources in African countries, the Egyptian government, with an eye out to play a greater role as one of the development partners for African nations, also joined forces with Japan, implementing joint training programs, whereby the two nations are able to effectively combine their human, technical and financial resources together to support social and economic development efforts in African countries. On the basis of cost sharing, the two governments examined the possibility of dispatching experts to implement technical cooperation projects in African countries. The Egyptian Fund for Technical Cooperation in Africa (EFTCA) is also another subsidiary of the ministry that is heavily relied on as a principle tool for consolidating and supporting Egyptian-African cooperation. Established in 1981, EFTCA works with other African nations to provide the necessary technical assistance according to the needs of African states, promoting bilateral agreements between the Fund and the African governments as well as trilateral agreements with international and regional donor institutes specifying financial obligations of each party. Egypt has also reached deep into its EFTCA's pockets for other African nations such as Uganda, whose foreign minister met with Ahmed Abul-Gheit, Egypt's foreign minister, to express his gratitude for Egypt's financial assistance. Technical cooperation agreements between Burundi and Egypt are also in the works, in addition to talks between Abul-Gheit and the foreign ministers of Guinea, Gabon, the Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe and Djibouti in order to strengthen and deepen bilateral relations and agreements within the continent. Egypt is also one of the founding members and the host nation for the last New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) summits, an initiative founded on creating sustainable development in Africa and promoting cooperation between international partners to develop the potential of African countries. While the reasons behind Egypt's staunch determination to support its African counterparts may be hard to decipher by some, Abul-Gheit, also the chairman of EFTCA, explain the reasons why in a statement marking EFTCA's 20th anniversary. "Since the dawn of history, Egyptian civilization has spread constantly in the African continent. Egypt played the role of the linking chain between the African cultures and the Arab, Asian and European cultures. Africa is and will always remain a priority on the agenda of the Egyptian foreign policy, he said.
