An army travels on its stomach. And now the path to hungry NATO troops in Afghanistan may grow shorter, as the U.S. is hoping to shift the supply line of fruits and vegetables from United Arab Emirates to Uzbekistan via the Northern Distribution Network (NDN), the transit route to deliver non-lethal goods to Afghanistan, the Russian news service regnum.ru reported.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Robert O. Blake, Jr. told an Uzbek-American business forum in Tashkent last week that the NDN is part of an overall stability plan for the region:
The Obama Administration places a high priority on building economic partnerships in Uzbekistan and throughout Central Asia so this region once again can be a crossroads for trade and ideas. This effort includes working with Uzbekistan to improve the business environment in order to enhance investment opportunities for U.S. companies, which will in turn benefit economic growth in Uzbekistan.
Blake said the U.S. spent $23 million on supplies in Uzbekistan in the 2010 fiscal year, and an additional $5 million in October-November 2010; in construction materials alone, the U.S. has already purchased nearly as much in the last two months as in the previous year and plans more purchases, he said.
The U.S. has long offered the Uzbek government a chance to boost its economy with purchase orders for supplies needed in the war. A dozen business executives who travelled to Tashkent last week as part of the official U.S. delegation met with Uzbek Vice Premier Elyor Ganniev and discussed ways to increase trade and investment. Among the companies represented were Boeing, Case New Holland, ExxonMobil, FMN Logistics, General Electric, Honeywell, Nukem, Sikorsky, White & Case, Zeppelin, General Motors, Microsoft, and Nobel.
Blake said the U.S. government would work with the American-Uzbekistan Chamber of Commerce (AUCC) to develop business proposals.
Last August, Donald Nicholson, president of the AUCC, told a group of business people visiting Uzbekistan that the U.S. planned to buy more fruits and vegetables from Uzbek farmers and sort and pack them for shipment to Afghanistan, the Russian news service regnum.ru reported February 20. '
"The overall demand from American forces in Afghanistan for fresh vegetables and fruits is more than 40 tons a day," Nicholson was quoted as saying.
At a press conference following meetings with President Islam Karimov in Uzbekistan February 18, Blake thanked the Uzbek government for its assistance with Afghanistan, and reiterated to reporters that the items delivered along the NDN would remain non-lethal.
Asked by a reporter for specifics of how many tons of cargo were moving through the NDN currently, Blake declined to say, but unofficially, it is believed that 90 percent of the goods shipped along the NDN are now travelling through Uzbekistan. Last year, Tashkent revealed that it had tripled its air cargo sent through the international airport in Navoi. A reporter pressed Blake to indicate how much the government of Uzbekistan is paid by the U.S. for the transit, but was told the issue was "a bit too detailed for a non-specialist" and referred to CENTCOM, the U.S. central military command.
Critics have been concerned that with the Uzbek state controlling business in relations with foreign investors, any private U.S. firms would inevitably be helping to sustain the oppressive state system in Uzbekistan. And there has also been concern that with the need to maintain good relations with Uzbek officials for the sake of the NDN, human rights may fall by the wayside.
A reporter at the press conference also inquired whether Blake had discussed imprisoned journalists and activists with Karimov. Blake said, "We don't get into the details of our diplomatic discussions with any of our friends," but said there was a "wide-ranging, detailed discussion on human rights," and referenced Karimov's November 12 speech in which he claimed to wish to promote the rule of law.
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