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On 11-13 April, Governor of Afghanistan’s Ghor province Abdullah Haiwad will pay a visit to Lithuania.In Vilnius, meetings of the Governor of Afghanistan’s Ghor province are planned with Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Audronius Ažubalis, Minister of National Defence Rasa Juknevičienė, Minister of Agriculture Kazys Starkevičius, Chancellor of the Prime Minister Deividas Matulionis, Association of Local Authorities in Lithuania Roma Žakaitienė, members of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Seimas (Parliament) and of the Parliamentary Group for the Relations Afghanistan Islam Republic.

A.Haiwad will also visit the Lithuanian Business Confederation | ICC Lithuania, the Military Academy of Lithuania, National M. K. Čiurlionis School of Art, the Faculty of Agrotechnology of Vilnius College of Higher Education, and will get acquainted with the activities of the ecological goat farm and a meat processing company.

The purpose of this visit is to discuss the cooperation between Lithuania and Ghor province, prospects for the development of the province and Lithuania’s support to it, as well as the process of transfer of responsibility to the Afghan authorities in Ghor province, and to support the efforts of the Governor and of the local administration to reconstruct the province.

On 13 April at the Seimas (Parliament), the Governor will open the photo exhibition “Afghanistan: Far Away And Yet So Close”. On the same day, A.Haiwad will give a public lecture “Ghor Province and the Ghurid Dynasty – the History and Future” at the Senate Hall, Vilnius University.

A.Haiwad was born in Ghor province, studied civil engineering, management and finances in Afghanistan, India and the United Kingdom. In recent years, he has had a private business enterprise.

Provincial Governor of Ghor A.Haiwad took office in December 2010. This is the third visit of the Governor of Ghor province to Lithuania. Governor Sayed Mohammad Iqbal Munib visited the country in 2009 and Baz Mohammad Ahmadi visited Lithuania in 2007.

The Governor will pay a visit to Lithuania at the invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Lithuanian-led PRT in Ghor is a joint civilian-military mission, a part of NATO’s International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) that was launched in Ghor in summer 2005. The main task of the mission is to help the Government of Afghanistan to extend authority in the province, ensure security and create appropriate conditions for provincial reconstruction. Representatives from Denmark, Finland, Georgia, Japan, Poland, Ukraine and the U.S.A. serve along with the Lithuanian military and civilian personnel in Ghor PRT camp, Chaghcharan.

To the media: the press conference (in English) of Political Director Eitvydas Bajarūnas and the Governor of Ghor will take place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday, the 11th of April at 10:15 am. Please pre-register via e-mail at media@urm.lt or by phone: (8 5) 2362458.