Karzai brags of developments at SCO summit

YEKATERINBURG, Russia, June 18 (UPI) -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai told an audience at a summit for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization that his country is improving but needs regional support.

"In the last seven years, Afghanistan has made remarkable progress in various areas including institutional development, strengthening good governance and promoting economic growth," the Afghan president said.

Regional leaders convened in Yekaterinburg, Russia, this week for the ninth summit meeting for the SCO.

Karzai boasted of improvements in the level of access to education and basic services, as well as a free press that he said had "become the norm."

Meanwhile, with domestic backing of agricultural and rural developments, the national per capita gross domestic product rose from $185 in 2002 to $450 in 2009, the Afghan president said.

On opium trafficking, Karzai gave special thanks to Iran for its assistance in combating the drug trade, pointing to numbers from the United Nations suggesting opium production in Afghanistan was expected to drop by as much as 30 percent.

He noted, however, the growing insurgency in his country was not limited to the volatile tribal areas along the border with Pakistan, but to the region as a whole.

"In our region, we are all affected by both our achievements and progress and by the threats we face," he said. "We all share the same fate and must consider this reality while developing our strategies and policies."