VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The creation of peace in Afghanistan is a prerequisite to the improvement of the country`s economy, Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla said. Kalla made the remarks while receiving a delegation of Afghanistan`s High Peace Council (HPC) at the Vice Presidential office here, Monday evening.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, who was also present at the meeting, said the vice president briefed the Afghan delegation on the Indonesian government`s commitment to create peace in Afghanistan.

"Mr. Vice President has stated that peace is a prerequisite to doing other things. So, before developing its economy and so on, it must create peace first," the minister quoted the vice president as saying.

Economic development in a conflict-plagued country is important to ensure the continuation of its people`s life after peace has been achieved, the vice president said.

To this end, the Indonesian government has looked into the possibility of developing the Afghan economy in line with its commitment to create peace in the country, he said.

The Indonesian government has assisted Afghanistan through a capacity building training program and scholarships for Afghan students in the economic and business fields.

"We plan to provide them with capacity building training programs and scholarships. They asked if the capacity building training program and scholarships could be made available to the business sector," the foreign minister remarked . (antaranews)