U.S. raising Central Asia supply role in Afghanistan

UNITED STATED

The United States is drafting a plan for Central Asian nations to supply more goods and services to operations in Afghanistan as a way of aiding their economies, a U.S. trade official said on Wednesday.

"Central Asia's logistical support for U.S. and NATO forces contributes to building a stable Afghanistan, but we can do more," Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis said in a speech at a conference on U.S. trade with Central Asia.

Trade ministers from five Central Asia countries -- Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan -- and Afghanistan are in Washington this week for talks on expanding trade and investment.

Earlier this year, after receiving a promise of $2 billion in aid from Russia, Kyrgyzstan said it was closing a U.S. air force base at Manas that Washington considers vital for supplying U.S. forces fighting in Afghanistan.

Kyrgyzstan later reversed that decision after the United States paid $180 million to keep the base open.

Then, in August, it allowed Russia to open a second military base in southern Kyrgyzstan in addition to the one that Moscow already has in the country's far north.

Kyrgyzstan is one of three former Soviet Republics in Central Asia that permitted bases for Western troops after the September 11 attacks on the United States.

Its hope that the Manas base would boost its economy never materialized because the U.S. Department of Defense relies heavily on its own suppliers for food and other materials, a U.S. industry official said.

SUPPLY CHAIN

Marantis said his office was working with the Department of Defense and other U.S. agencies on a new initiative "aimed at increasing opportunities for the (Central Asian countries) to supply goods and services to U.S. operations."

"This effort could create new opportunities for investment and job creation in the region and, in the process, to obtaining our security objectives," Marantis said.

"I look forward to fruitful discussions on this issue at tomorrow's TIFA council meeting," he said, referring to the U.S. Trade and Investment Framework Agreement forum with the Central Asian countries.

Senior U.S. Defense Department officials are expected to brief Central Asian ministers on the initiative as part of that meeting on Thursday.

"USTR is seeking to leverage our TIFA process to increase trade and investment opportunities for U.S. and local firms while supporting Defense Department efforts to supply U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan through Central Asia," USTR spokeswoman Carol Guthrie said.

In another sign of increased U.S. attention to the region, Marantis said the United States and the Central Asian countries would hold an additional mid-year meeting each year under the TIFA forum, which dates back to 2004.

The United States is also launching bilateral talks with each of the Central Asian countries to focus on the individual concerns each country has, he said.

Marantis encouraged the Central Asian countries to continue economic reforms and to reduce trade and investment barriers between themselves.

"The more Central Asian economies work together, the more U.S. and other international companies will be attracted by the economies of scale in the region," he said.

(Editing by Philip Barbara and Cynthia Osterman)

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