International donors meeting in Tokyo Sunday were expected to pledge more than 16 billion dollars in development aid for Afghanistan through 2015 as they discussed how to support the country after the withdrawal of most foreign combat troops, DPA reported.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai said that his country would need about 4 billion dollars in annual civilian assistance to rebuild its economy after the planned 2014 departure.
NATO is to finish its combat mission in Afghanistan by the end of 2014. France has said it would withdraw its soldiers by the end of 2012 while a third of US soldiers are to leave by
September.
In return for the aid, Afghanistan was expected again to promise to root out corruption, improve its legal system, strengthen its finances and carry out other reforms under the Mutual
Accountability Framework, a deal due to be signed in Tokyo.
Participants at the aid conference included UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi.
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