Report of the visit to Australia by His Excellency Dr Abdullah Abdullah, Minister for Foreign Affairs in the Transitional Islamic Government of Afghanistan

The visit by His Excellency Dr Abdullah Abdullah is the first visit by a senior member of the Transitional Islamic Government of Afghanistan. The visit is an important step in restoring and building friendly relationships between the people of Afghanistan and the people of Australia.

Major highlights of the visit were meetings with the Honourable John Howard, the Prime Minister of Australia, The Honourable Alexander Downer MP, Minister for Foreign Affairs, and other senior ministers of the government and members of Parliament for discussions relating to defence, foreign affairs and trade, immigration and communications and information technology. Dr Abdullah and his delegation met with members of the Australian business community with interests in agriculture, banking, energy production, export development, infrastructure development, legal services and procurement for discussions relating to the business potential in Afghanistan. Meetings were also held with senior members of the education sector to explore the potential for Afghan students to undertake study in Australia and also establishing links between Afghan and Australian universities.

Dr Abdullah was accompanied on his visit by Mr Omar Samad, Spokesperson and Director General of the Information Division and Mr Adib Farhadi, Director of Economic Affairs. His Excellency Mr Mahmoud Saikal, the Afghan Ambassador to Australia, accompanied Dr Abdullah on his engagements in Australia. Mr Richard Neumann of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade was the Commonwealth visit coordinator and accompanied the delegation. Dr Abdullah, Mr Samad and Mr Farhadi visited Australia as guests of the Australian Government

Dr Abdullah and his delegation arrived in Sydney on the morning of Wednesday 13 November 2002 after attending a Ministerial Conference of the Community of Democracies in Seoul, South Korea.

On arrival at Canberra International Airport Dr Abdullah was welcomed by Ms Jan Fuhrman Deputy Director of Visits Ceremonial and Hospitality Unit, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Mr James Batley, Assistant Secretary, Mainland South East Asia and South Asia Branch, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and members of the Afghan Embassy and their familes. Two children from the Canberra Afghan Community presented Dr Abdullah with flowers as a welcome to the national capital.

During Wednesday Dr Abdullah had a meeting with the Hon John Howard, Prime Minister of Australia that enabled important mutual discussions to take place and allowed personal contacts to be made at this high governmental level.

Dr Abdullah met with Senator The Hon Robert Hill, Minister for Defence to discuss defence issues and progress in the war on terrorism.

Dr Abdullah then proceeded to a meeting with Senator The Hon Richard Alston, Minister for Communications and Information Technology. Senator Alston has been personally interested in Afghanistan for many years and is a long-term friend of the Australian Afghan Community. Senator Alston’s portfolio responsibilities are of considerable interest as Afghanistan moves towards reconstruction.

Afterwards, Dr Abdullah and his delegation held a meeting with the Honourable Alexander Downer MP, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and then attended a formal dinner given by Minister Downer in Dr Abdullah’s honour. After the dinner, the two ministers delivered speeches and complimented the growing friendly ties between Australia and Afghanistan. On behalf of the government and people of Afghanistan, Dr Abdullah thanked Australia for its generous participation in the reconstruction of wartorn Afghanistan.

Dr Abdullah and his delegation met with the Joint-Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade chaired by Senator Alan Ferguson. The committee enjoyed a wide-ranging discussion relating to the interests its members.

Earlier on Wednesday Dr Abdullah gave a lecture at the Law Lecture Theatre, Fellows Road, Australian National University titled "Afghanistan: Reconstruction VS. Terrorism under the auspices of the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies of the ANU.

Later in the day, Dr Abdullah received a call in suite by His Excellency Mr J. Thomas Schieffer, the Ambassador of the United States of America that enabled both personal as well as diplomatic ties to be extended.

Dr Abdullah and his delegation visited the newly opened Embassy of Afghanistan and complimented the staff on their hard and efficient efforts in establishing the Canberra Embassy. Dr Abdullah then inspected the proposed sites of the building of the permanent Embassy of Afghanistan in Deakin.

Later that evening Dr Abdullah attended a reception held at the Embassy of Afghanistan, for members of the local Afghan community.

On the morning of Thursday 14 November 2002 Dr Abdullah received various personal visits in his hotel suite including from His Excellency Dr Klaus-Peter Klaiber, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany. Dr Klaus-Peter Klaiber had been the representative of the EU in Afghanistan during 2002 and the visit enabled the renewal of personal ties as well as hearing first hand information. He also received a visit from Professor Amin Saikal, Director of Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies at the Australian National University.

Dr Abdullah also met with Mr Kevin Rudd MP Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs to discuss issues of mutual foreign affairs interest. A meeting with the Hon Philip Ruddock MP, Minister for Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs discussed issues relating to Mr Ruddock’s portfolio.

Early in the afternoon a meeting was held with various NGO representatives, AusAID and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to discuss humanitarian and reconstruction aid issues in Afghanistan.

Dr Abdullah and his delegation then left Canberra and flew to Melbourne where he was enthusiastically received by members of the Afghan community at a reception at the Function Hall of Australian Volunteers International in Fitzroy.

On Friday 15 November 2002 a meeting was held with members of the business community under the auspices of Austrade to discuss the range of business opportunities in Afghanistan. This meeting provided information to the business community as well as establishing useful contacts for business development between Australia and Afghanistan.

Dr Abdullah also met with the Vice-Chancellor of Melbourne University and staff of Melbourne University Private (MUP) to discuss education issues and the potential for Afghan students to study in Australia.

The Minister and his delegation left Melbourne for Sydney and arrived mid-afternoon. Dr Abdullah had an enjoyable and lengthy meeting with Mr Bob Carr, Premier of New South Wales, and a discussion that covered a board range of issues that related to Afghanistan and its region and relations with Australia.

While in Sydney Dr Abdullah and the delegation were given a guided tour of Toronga Zoo that introduced them to Australian animals and their habits and care. A trip to the Opera House, shopping at Centrepoint Tower and a visit to Manly with a ferry ride to Circular Quay were all highlights of a slightly more relaxing day after the hectic meetings of the previous days.

In Sydney, Dr Abdullah also met with members of the Afghan community at a reception held at ParraVilla Function Hall for that purpose. Throughout the visit, the meetings with the members of the local community played an important role in renewing ties with Afghanistan as well as providing a boost to the morale of Afghan expatriates.

On Sunday 17 November 2002 Dr Abdullah, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and his delegation left Australia for Beijing.

During his visit to Australia, Dr Abdullah also gave a number of personal interviews to the Australian media: television interviews were given to Ms Jennifer Byrne, "Foreign Correspondent" ABC, and for "7.30 Report" ABC. A Radio interview was given to Mr Sahib Shakib, "SBS Radio". Print Media interviews were given to Greg Sheridan of "The Australian" and Tony Parkinson of "The Age".

The visit of Dr Abdullah and his delegation was important in making personal contact with members of the Australian Government, the business and education community and members of the Afghan community in Australia. An immediate result has been the announcement of AUS$2.4 million in technical assistance by the Australian Government to various ministries of the Transitional Government in Afghanistan. The Australian Government has also announced the provision of a number of AusAID scholarships for Afghan students to study in Australia beginning in the year 2003. In addition, during Dr Abdullah's visit, Australia announced AUS$1 million towards the project of stress tolerant wheat and maize for Afghanistan, handled by Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR).