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At the Tokyo Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan on July 8, Lithuanian Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Evaldas Ignatavičius stressed the importance of the international community’s assistance to this country now and beyond 2014, and Lithuania’s determination to further advance its development cooperation with Afghanistan.

“For the effectiveness of donor aid, the Government of Afghanistan needs to continue to implement reforms, enhance governance and transparency in public finance, ensure respect for human rights and advance the equality of women,” Ignatavičius said.

Participants of the meeting agreed to renew long-term mutual commitments after 2014. The Government of Afghanistan, representatives from donor countries and international organizations discussed the provision of long-term assistance to Afghanistan after the transition of security responsibility to the Afghan authorities. They agreed on conditions for delivering assistance and discussed prospects for regional cooperation.

During the visit, Ignatavičius held a meeting with Parliamentary Senior Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Ryuji Yamane and thanked the Japanese Government for their support for the projects in Ghor.

In Ghor province, Japan and Lithuania are implementing a number of development cooperation projects: the main streets in the capital of Ghor province are paved; the province’s hospital is being reconstructed, and vocational training centres and child day care centre were built in Chaghcharan. The Japanese Government has allocated more than USD 15 million for these projects.