Kabul Seeks Aussie Role on Afghan Mining Industry
Despite earlier indications that China and India are inserting their footholds on Afghanistan's mining resources, Afghan officials have hinted that Australia's involvement in the Asian county's mining industry is also very much desired.
Estimates released by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) last year revealed that Afghanistan's mineral and energy reserves run deep enough to generate revenues that could reach trillions of dollars, according to ABC.
That geological survey, which the U.S. Defence Department had commissioned, supported earlier findings push forward by Russia and Britain, two countries that previously occupied the nation.
While acknowledging that conflicts still exist in the country and security remains a big concern, Afghanistan ambassador to Australia Nasir Andisha is upbeat on the possibility that Aussie mining giants would get involve in cultivating the rich resources of his country.
In an interview with ABC, Andisha revealed that he's planning exploratory meetings in Melbourne to check "if there is a possibility of getting major companies interested," referring to BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Xstrata.
He admitted though that "I have not got in touch with any of the major Australian investors."
Andisha is hopeful that these mining firms would be attracted by the established fact that iron ore, copper, gold, lithium, coal, uranium, oil and gas resources abound in his country.
He also noted that precious metals and stones have lured conquerors to claim their stake in the country.
Earlier this December, Afghan President Hamid Karzai has admitted that Kabul is opening for willing partners to harvest his country's huge mineral resources.
The end goal, Karzai stressed, is for Afghanistan to achieve "long term growth and prosperity."
Yet this early, questions on the manner of awarding mining rights to entities have been raised by the Americans, which keep a significant military presence in the region, while accusing Kabul that too much leeway has been extended to Chinese firms.
These companies, according to Alexander Benard of Gryphon Capital Partners, enjoy advantages because they brandish the guarantee provided by Beijing, allowing them to offer higher mining royalties to Afghan authorities.
However, Bernard noted that the Chinese seems to have adopted the attitude of touch-and-go as "it's been several years now and there's hasn't been any meaningful development."
"A higher royalty rate is meaningless if no work is being done and no resource is being extracted, that's no revenue at all to the Afghan government," Bernard added.
Kabul's present disposition, according to Jeffrey Reeves of Griffith Asia Institute, is best-explained by understanding that "(the Afghan government) just looking for anything to stabilise Afghanistan, anything to provide economic opportunity other than insurgency."
Right now that role is best represented by China, a reality that experts said should provide clues for future players like Australia, on ways to properly deal with Afghanistan.