Kabul- In the context of its relentless endeavors to break its international isolation, a government participated Militant For the first time at the high -level summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (Eco), through an official delegation he headed Mulla Abdul Ghani BraderThe Prime Minister’s Economic Deputy, with an official invitation from the government of Azerbaijan.
This Afghan participation at the seventeenth of the organization, which was held in the capital, Baku, on the third and fourth of July, is a prominent station in the new movement’s strategy to open up to regional blocs, and a serious attempt to fill the void caused by the absence of international recognition since its return to power in August 2021.
“Official” participation after an absence from the summit of Mashhad
A statement issued by the office of the Prime Minister’s Economic Deputy in Kabul stated that the Taliban government received an “official invitation” from Azerbaijan to participate in this year’s summit, which puts this participation in a different context from the summit of last year that was held in the Iranian city of Mashhad, which Afghanistan was absent despite its full membership in the organization.
According to the Afghan News Agency, “Bakhtar”, Bader delivered a speech during the plenary session in which he called for the upcoming summit in Kabul, and urged members to recognize “the new political reality in Afghanistan.”
He also held bilateral meetings with a number of Azeris officials, most notably Prime Minister Ali Asdouf.
Azerbaijan .. The first to break the ice with the Taliban
Azerbaijan is the only country that initiated an embassy in Kabul after the Taliban returned to the ruling, as it sent an official ambassador for the first time in the history of relations between the two countries. Before 2021, Azerbaijan had no diplomatic representation in Afghanistan, but after the Taliban returned to power, Baku was the first to break the condition of stalemate, announcing the opening of its embassy in a move that was interpreted as a positive political signal towards cooperation away from the complexities of international recognition.
Bilateral relations between the two countries have witnessed a remarkable development during the past two years, as the Taliban has repeatedly expressed their desire to enhance cooperation with Azerbaijan in political and commercial files. The two sides also discussed the possibilities of implementing joint projects in the fields of energy, transportation, and regional connection, to serve the interests of both parties and contribute to the reintegration of Afghanistan into its regional environment.
Political and economic breath
This participation comes in a broader context of the efforts made by the Taliban to open up to the Asian neighboring countries, as the Organization for Economic Cooperation, which includes 10 countries, including Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, and Central Asian countries, constitutes a promising platform to activate trade exchange and joint regional projects in the fields of infrastructure, energy, and transportation.
It should be noted that the Organization for Economic Cooperation was established in 1985 at the initiative of Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey with the aim of enhancing economic and cultural cooperation between member states.
In 1992, the organization expanded with the joining of Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, thus becoming a regional economic bloc with geographical and strategic weight.
According to the organization’s reports, the population of member states is about 500 million people, and the GDP is about 2.5 trillion dollars (2023), of which 1.1 trillion dollars for Turkey and 400 billion for Iran.
But the volume of inter -trade exchange does not exceed 100 billion dollars, or about 8% of the total trade of member states, which reflects a wide margin of growth.
During the summit, the leaders of 7 countries -including Turkey, Iran, Uzbekistan and Pakistan -acknowledged an economic integration strategy that extends until 2035, focusing on trade liberalization, attracting foreign investment, enhancing cooperation in green energy, transportation, and reconstruction of conflict -affected areas.
Hikmat Hajayev, Assistant President of the Azerbaijani Foreign Policy, said that the plan includes the establishment of a regional green energy center and a transport and energy center in Azerbaijan, as part of a comprehensive vision to turn the region into a pivotal economic corridor.
A shift in Taliban’s foreign priorities
Analysts believe that the Taliban is trying, through this step, to consolidate a new form of “practical legitimacy” at the regional level, by investing economic diplomacy tools instead of waiting for international political recognition that appears far -now.
In this context, political analyst and university professor Abdul Rahman Nuri told Al -Jazeera Net: “The Taliban is aware that breaking isolation is not only through traditional diplomatic channels, but through the gates of economics and technical cooperation, which makes the Organization of Economic Cooperation a strategic opportunity to link Afghanistan with its vital and economic surroundings.”
Files launched by Afghanistan
Government sources indicate that the Afghan delegation presented several cooperation files during the summit, the most prominent of which are:
- Create transport lines linking Afghanistan to the Caspian Sea Ports: A feasibility study of the project was agreed in coordination with Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, which enhances the organization’s vision to improve transportation networks.
- Activating trade with Azerbaijan through Turkmenistan: to open new horizons for the movement of goods in the absence of direct marine roads.
- Cooperation in energy, agriculture and small projects: several countries -including Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan -have expressed their willingness to provide technical support to Afghanistan in these areas, within the “Eco 2035 Vision 203” for sustainable development.
- Improving the transportation and communications infrastructure: with the possibility of Afghanistan to obtain technical support from the organization to rehabilitate the affected areas of conflict.
Challenges
Despite the positive indicators, observers believe that the biggest challenge against the Afghan government does not lie in participating in initiatives, but rather in providing an attractive legal and investment environment.
The Afghan economy suffers from chronic challenges, as the population is about 41 million, while the per capita GDP does not exceed $ 364 (2021).
Most of the population depends on agriculture, and the annual exports value is estimated at about one billion dollars for up to 6 billion.
In this context, economist Abdel -Zahir, a mastermind of Al -Jazeera Net, explains that regional organizations can provide a practical cover for cooperation, but without internal reforms, such as a stable legal environment and the expansion of the banking system, any partnership will remain a limited impact.
He adds: The investment climate must be strengthened internally before talking about the feasibility of external openness.
During the summit, the organization’s countries expressed their desire to enhance cooperation with Afghanistan, but they linked this to improving internal conditions, especially with regard to human rights and the investment climate.
For his part, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stressed that Khanskandi could turn into a “peace and development center in the South Caucasus”, while reports indicated that the ECO 2035 strategy will be officially approved at the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers to be held in Kazakhstan next November.
Will the Taliban succeed in converting this economic gate into a political crane that enhances its regional and international presence?
An open question, his answer remains hostage to the Afghan interior transformations, and the extent of international and regional parties’ willingness to deal with the new reality in Kabul.