Hamid Karzai

“ Over the past four years, Afghanistan has gone through a remarkable transformation and as a result the Afghan people live lives that are more secure, marked by historical opportunities and full of promise for the future. The Afghan people are determined to realize the vision of a stable, democratic and prosperous Afghanistan. ”

“ With your help, we aspire to stand on our own feet, to determines our own destiny and live peaceably with the world as a member of the family of nations. We realize that there many challenges and obstacles to overcome before we can realize our vision, but we are determined to keep the course that we have chosen. ”

“ From the reconstruction of infrastructure to rural development to education and health, Japan’s assistance has been a noticeable factor in the steady betterment of life for the Afghan people. Above all, Japan’s contribution to the Security Sector Reform programme, mainly focusing on the disarmament, demobilization and re-integration of armed groups, has been crucial to restoring Afghanistan to a secure and peaceful country desired by the Afghan people. ”

“ Over the past four and half years, I have seen us working together with our partner in the international community, removing the obstacles one by one, and taking steady steps towards rebuilding institutions and providing security to our people. ”

“ We know now, perhaps more so than we did in the past, that terrorism and narcotics go hand-in-hand and that narcotics money, among other sources, feeds terrorism. The counter narcotics drive we have undertaken in Afghanistan, with cooperation from the international community, is strong and multi-faceted. This fight must be sustained and expanded to address both the associated law and order challenge, and the needs for real measurable alternative livelihoods for the farmers. ”

“ It goes without saying that progress in all other sectors in Afghanistan would not have been possible without improvement in the security situation and without our achievements in the various areas of security sector reform. When I came to Tokyo in January 2006, Afghanistan had just toppled a terrorist regime and driven out Al Qaida’s alien network, but the security of our people was still perilously threatened by lawlessness, localised militias and a spread on a massive scale of weapons and armaments. ”

“ As a result, today the Afghan National Army, with its thirty thousand strong force, and the National Police with its 45000 strong force, have regained their status and power as the sole legitimate dispensers of force in the country. A lot of effort has gone into reviving and strengthening our justice system and we are seeing these efforts coming to fruition. ”