[BLANK PAGE]


١٣٤٨
AFGHAN PROGRESS
in the
Fourth Year of the Plan
AFGHAN PROGRESS
SEPTEMBER. 1966


His Majesty the King opening the Jangalak Industrial Plant.


CONTENTS

Foreword ... ... ... ... 5
Outline ... ... ... ... 5
Planning ... ... ... ... 8
Education ... ... ... ... 10
Kabul University ... ... ... 21
Agriculture ... ... ... ... 26
Community Development ... ... 31
Mines and Industries ... ... 34
Public Works ... ... ... ... 39
Communications ... ... ... 45
Commerce ... ... ... ... 47
Public Health ... ... ... ... 51

SECTION II

Geographical Features ... ... ... 54
Climate ... ... ... ... ... 58
History ... ... ... ... ... 61
The People ... ... ... ... 68
Language and Culture ... ... ... 71
Constitution ... ... ... ... 73
Government ... ... ... ... 83
Tourist Map ... ... ... ... 88

Front cover: The 8,000 ft. Valley of Bamyan, in the heart of the Hindukush
mountains. In the centre of the cliff is one of the two
gigantic statues of Buddha.


Foreword

KEEPING pace with rapid progress the world over, Afghanistan has been taking great strides forward since the Five Year Plan began its first year in September, 1956.
This Plan is neither ambitious nor modest. It was prepared simply to meet the most important requirements of the country with the minimum cost and maximum utility. The story of the implementation of the first three years of the Plan has been reported by the Afghan Information Bureau in three similar publications at the end of each year.
The aim of the present publication is to describe the implementation of the Plan in its fourth year, as it has been reported by various Government and other agencies responsible for its execution.
Every effort has been made to summarize the material and present the different phases of the Plan in a precise form. In a few cases, however, the report covers only the first half of the fourth year because it was felt that facts and figures should not be rushed at the expense of accuracy.
The Information Bureau,
Royal Afghan Embassy,
1, Kensington Church Court,
London, W.8.

OUTLINE OF THE FIVE-YEAR PLAN

THE Ministry of Planning, established in 1957 by Act of Parliament, is directly responsible for the co-ordination of all projects carried out by the various other Ministries in connection with the Five Year Plan.
The main emphasis, however, has been placed on agriculture. The Plan in this case is based on the principle that both equipment and knowledge should be made available to the farmers, so that they can increase their output per jirib (half-acre), and per individual beast.
Research stations will be established to study the problems arising, and these will conduct campaigns against animal and plant pestilences and diseases. Agricultural mechanisation will also be under-taken, especially in the northern and south-western provinces.
Farming schools will be set up, in addition to the present High Schools and Faculty of Agriculture, and there will be seasonal courses in the farms and villages for the further training of personnel.
All this is to be carried out because Afghanistan is a predominantly agricul-tural country, the main means of live-lihood being farming and the tending of livestock. With the current conditions receiving proper attention, it is expected that farm output will not only suffice for the internal needs of the country, but that it will be possible to export more products such as cotton and wool, to the advantage of the people.
New dams will be constructed on the following rivers: Kunduz in Kataghan, Kokcha in Kataghan, Sardeh in Ghazni, Paltu in Katawaz, Kharwar and Machal-ghu in Kabul Province.
A new canal will carry water from the Kabul River near Jalalabad, to irrigate a vast tract of land south and east of the city.
By these measures it is hoped to increase the arable land in Afghanistan by 625,000 acres.
Forestry plans in various districts will ensure better climatic conditions, prevent erosion and floods, and produce more timber.

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The cost of the Agricultural Five-Year Plan to the nation will be:
Afghanis
For agriculture and irrigation 2,073,702,000
For the rearing of livestock .... 9,623,000
For the protection of livestock and plants against disease .... 51,617,000
(56 Afghanis = £1 Sterling, 20 Afghanis = $1.00)
The above figures comprise 22·8% of the total Five Year Plan expenditure.
The next important feature of the Plan is transportation. At present a network of roads encircles Afghanistan, but these are not all-weather highways; in fact, in certain areas the roads and bridges are sometimes washed away by seasonal floods.
It is the Government's aim to improve the major routes to the east, north and south, so that these can easily take heavy traffic travelling into and out of the country.
Furthermore, many workshops are to be installed in the main cities and along the highways, with sufficient provision for the repair of lorries and other vehicles.

Within the scope of the Plan, the highways between Kabul and Torkham, Mazar-i-Sharif, and Kabul and Spinboldak will be substantially improved. They will be widened to 10 metres, and bridges will be built with a view to permanency. About 1,000 kilometres of these roads will be asphalted.
To facilitate air travel between the capital and the various provinces, the existing airports will be improved and, where necessary, new airstrips will be constructed. This phase of the Plan includes the international airport of Kandahar, the Kabul airport—which will be capable of receiving all types of aircraft—and those of Jalalabad, Mazar-i-Sharif and Herat.
The Afghan ports of Kizil Qala and Kilift, on the Amu river, will be modernised so as to be able to receive outgoing or incoming cargoes from the Soviet Union.
The cost of this part of the Plan will be 1,444,522,000 Afghanis.
Additional postal services, telephonic

A bird's eye view of Kabul.


Wild tulips adorn the beautiful valleys between the mountains in northern Afghanistan.
and telegraphic communications, as well as meteorological stations, will be set up to the tune of 488,738,000 Afghanis.
In the educational field 160 new Primary Schools, 250 adult literacy courses, over 25 Secondary Schools, two Technical Colleges, and two University Faculties will be established within the prescribed period.
To construct the new schools will cost 250,000,000 Afghanis; and the necessary laboratory equipment 10,000,000 dollars.
A total of 318,800,000 Afghanis will be spent on educational progress in Afghanistan.
Health plans will include the setting-up of many hospitals, dental clinics and laboratories in various districts. Main emphasis will be placed on preventive measures against disease.
The sum allotted to this phase of the Plan is 92,970,000 Afghanis.
Community development programmes will account for some 241,000,000 Afghanis.

It is expected that some 2,220 villages out of a total of 24,000 will be covered by the present plans. These aim to make every village a self-supporting unit, giving it the most advanced knowledge possible of better education, health, sanitation, crops and farm life in general. Where needed the Government will furnish the basic equipment to farmers who will then carry out everything necessary to form useful, healthy and prosperous communities.
For the exploitation of coal mines, oil-fields and other mineral beds, with a view to utilising the country's natural resources to the utmost, a sum of 242,439,000 Afghanis has been allotted to the Ministry of Mines and Industries.
New factories will come into operation for the manufacture of textiles, cement, glass, and others, and an amount of 1,875,600,000 Afghanis has been set aside for this, while the total expenditure of the Plan amounts to 11,980,769,000 Afghanis.
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PLANNING

The Ministry of Planning is responsible for preparing and revising the development plans of the country and therefore has to collect data and formulate economic policy accordingly. The Department of Planning in the Ministry is co-ordinating the activities carried out by various Ministries.

In the field of agriculture and irrigation the Department has collected the necessary data with the co-operation of the Ministry of Public Works and the Helmand and Arghandab Valleys Authority. In the fields of finance and banking, studies have been carried out in connection with the question of financing development projects and uniform charts prepared to determine the expenditure involved for each year of the Plan. As to the activities of various banks, new proposals have been made with a view to introducing new policies to boost their activities. The financial situation in general and the question of foreign exchange in particular, have been studied with relation to the economic development of the country. Useful reports have been obtained from the Ministry of Commerce, the Chambers of Commerce, the Law Courts for Commercial Disputes, and important trading companies. These reports throw light on Afghanistan's internal as well as her foreign trade. The Department's research on international economic conventions, international trade, commercial law, corporation by-laws, foreign investments and the tourist trade has been extensive and valuable. The research on the tourist trade, which is a recent development in Afghanistan, has been especially useful, and the Department has received many reports and suggestions from various tourist agencies. The Department has also made great progress in collecting data on transport and communications facilities, and in the field of mines and industries studies have been made on ways of encouraging foreign

investment in order to develop certain natural resources. In the fields of social and cultural affairs the department has collected data on technical manpower and has assisted the community development project by suggesting effective ways of development. An example is the suggestion that co-educational schools should replace the boys' and girls' schools in small village communities. This has the effect of practically halving the number of teaching staff. The first such school was opened in Nooristan by the Community Development Project.

The Department of Planning has helped the Kabul Municipality by suggesting better ways of improving the standard of hygiene in the city. It has also helped the Kabul Municipality by suggesting better ways of housing, water supply, and flood control.

THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN CO-OPERATION

Serving as a liaison between the Ministry of Planning and foreign agencies concerned with giving foreign aid and assistance, this Department is responsible for making arrangements for foreign experts to help on various projects, obtaining necessary equipment from abroad, and sending government officials abroad on fellowships to obtain further specialised training.

The total amount of United Nations technical assistance to Afghanistan during the fourth year of the Plan ran into 660,778 dollars, of which 21,400 was spent on the purchase of equipment for various projects, the salaries of 64 experts and 11 scholarships. Besides this development assistance the United Nations helped Afghanistan through U.N.I.C.E.F. with the problems of maleria, typhus, and mother and child welfare. In accordance with a special agreement the United Nations Special Fund has agreed to allocate $1,257,400 to surveying land and water resources in Afghanistan. This was

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of fellowships to Afghan candidates and provided a number of experts to work on agricultural statistics, mechanisation of farming, and pharmacology, meteorology and engineering. Further five French experts are engaged in studying radio-active material in Afghanistan.

The Government of Japan has granted a number of fellowships in the fields of water supply, ceramics and sericulture and provided two experts to survey industries in Afghanistan. But an agreement for technical assistance with Japan has not been completed to date.

EDUCATION

CHANGES IN TEACHING PROGRAMMES:
Primary Education:
In order to vitalize and bring up to date the curricula in primary schools, the Ministry of Education has revised the programmes and special efforts have been made during the fourth year of the Plan to develop the talents of school children in various handicrafts so that they might become useful members of society in a practical way and add to the national economic progress.
It was necessary to take into account the conditions and requirements of the local environment, and much attention was paid to the teaching of a particular handicraft in a particular school to meet the requirements of the people.
Handicrafts such as carpentry, weaving, tailoring, carpet-making, lapidary, chalk-making, and furniture-making, were introduced by the Ministry of Education in 24 schools.
Owing to the fact that agriculture plays the most important rôle in the life of the people throughout the country, the teaching of agriculture and horticulture was also introduced to a number of schools during the fourth year of the Plan. This will enable students to reinforce farming manpower, on the one hand, and familiarize their rural communities with modern techniques of farming on the other. The Ministry supplied the schools with farming implements, seeds, and audio-visual media.
Further, two mobile cinema units belonging to the Ministry are always on the move to various parts of the country

showing films on agriculture, public hygiene and community development in order to give both students and parents an idea of how to improve their ways of life. The supplementary books prepared by the Institute of Education have also proved very valuable in this respect.
Inter-School and Community Relation-ship: The improving relationship between the school and students' parents has brought about great results. The participation of parents in school meet-ings and ceremonies has created a pleasant atmosphere in all schools with the result that some parents are volunteer-ing to bear the cost of the construction of an annex or to donate a considerable sum for the purchase of teaching material or a piece of land to build a new school on.
Developing the Mental Capacity of

Representatives of both men and women teachers with the Prime Minister.

10


Students for Better Living: All students in the elementary schools are given tips on social life and are shown around so that they may become familiar with different walks of life and so become prepared to face the realities of life and to choose the vocation they are most suited for at the appropriate age.
New Basic Schools: During the fourth year of the Plan the Ministry of Education opened fifty basic schools in various provinces to prepare the children for secondary education.
Village Schools:
Where the population is scattered and it is not possible to run and maintain an elementary school, the Ministry has managed to keep education flowing by a network of village schools. During the fourth year of the Plan 108 village schools were opened. Graduates of such schools are able to join the fourth grades in elementary schools in more populated areas.
Adult Education:
To fight against illiteracy is one of the main objects of the Ministry of Education. Scores of adult education courses are run all over the country and the attendants are shown films and given a special magazine entitled "Read and Understand It." Ten thousand of these magazines are distributed and the demand is growing because of the 38 extra courses which were added during the fourth year of the Plan.
Secondary Education:
Secondary education made a number of considerable strides during the fourth year of the Plan, the most conspicuous of which was the transformation of a large number of elementary schools into secondary schools. The result achieved was so great that 130 per cent. more schools were transformed than originally intended.
Two boarding schools were opened in Mazarisharif and Badakhshan provinces each accepting between 30 and 40

The First Deputy Premier, Mr. Ali Mohammed (front row) taking part in one of the conferences on Teachers' Day.
graduates of village schools from the local areas.
Change in the Programmes:
The Ministry of Education made a number of changes in the text-books used in girls' high schools for biology with a view to furnishing them with more information on the practical aspects of the human organism.
In order to meet the shortage of teachers for girls' schools steps were taken to employ the graduates of each particular school as teachers there and to provide them with more information on the subject-matter through courses taught by more experienced teachers.
The employment of women in office work necessitated some thorough instruction in typing, accounting, and decorations which was taken care of by the Ministry through a number of courses in two girls' schools.
To acquaint teachers in various boys' and girls' schools in the capital with laboratory work, the Ministry arranged a number of courses on practical physics where they could learn numerous modern methods of measurement and up-to-date scientific calculations during their vacations.
Also, in order to meet the shortage of science teachers in the provinces the Ministry made arrangements with

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A group of students expressing their appreciation during the Teachers' Day celebrations.

experienced science teachers to spend their vacations at schools located in different provinces where the students have their vacations in a different time due to the difference in climate.
During the fourth year of the Plan thirty-four per cent. more boys and twenty-seven per cent. more girls graduated from high schools throughout the country than the previous year. Of these a considerable number was selected for training in the teaching profession.
The Department of Secondary Education also tackles the problem of Afghan students studying abroad by providing a special rate of exchange for their parents and going through their progress reports, which are sent to the Ministry regularly by their particular universities abroad.
In order to encourage students in various arts and crafts, the Ministry holds an annual exhibition during the Independence Celebrations and a Fine Arts Display each Autumn. The exhibition arranged last year was one of the biggest in the whole country with 38 different educational institutions taking part. The Fine Arts Display consisted of 2,000 works of various students from boys and girls elementary, secondary and high schools

out of which 72 students were awarded prizes in the nation-wide competition.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION
Changes in Teaching Programmes:
A number of important changes have been made in the teaching material for religious schools, Kabul Teachers' College, and the schools for Agriculture and Commerce with a view to up-dating the method used so far. For instance, students of the religious schools were given instructions on science alongside with the usual subjects, and in the Kabul Teachers' College subjects such as fundamentals of education and educational sociology were introduced. The School of Agriculture was equipped with a modern laboratory and students were given more opportunity for experimental farming and physical exercise.
Further, the School of Physical Education was raised to the level of a high school with more foreign instructors. And in the experimental schools much attention was paid to establishing close contacts with parents of the students in matters related to schooling.

New Developments:
During the fourth year of the Plan Art

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Centres in the Kabul Teachers' Training College and the Teachers' Training Schools in the Provinces made great progress in connection with their teaching programmes and were provided with better boarding facilities.

The Afghan Institute of Technology was equipped with a large workshop and a recreation hall. The Kabul Technical School started two new courses on the manufacture of various spare parts. The first batch of graduates of the new Technical Schools in Khost and Kandahar began their employment. The new Art School in Farah adopted the curriculum of Kabul Art School and sent out its first batch of graduates during the fourth year of the Plan. The Art School of Kabul added two new departments, weaving and an additional art subject. The teachers and equipment for these two new departments were provided by the West German Technical Assistance Board.

Improvements in Workshops:
Modern equipment was imported from Germany and installed in Kabul Technical School. Some was sent to the new Technical School in Khost in order to enable the students of that remote area to get training in boring, ironsmithy and carpentry. The new Technical School in Kandahar was equipped with modern machinery and teachers by U.N.E.S.C.O. Likewise, the I.C.A. provided some equipment for repairing motor vehicles and welding. Machinery imported from the United States by the Afghan Government was also installed at Kandahar Technical School.

Training of Teachers:
The Department of Vocational Education has been taking steps to deal with the problem of training enough qualified teachers. At present some graduates from various colleges of Kabul University go straight to high schools to teach their subject, as the number of graduates from the Teachers' Training College cannot keep pace with the demand for teachers. For the same reason the

Students of the Agricultural School are shown a ploughing machine.
Students of Kabul Technical School.
Students of Agriculture experimenting with seed germination.

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Ministry sends many graduates of Kabul University to Teachers' Training Colleges abroad, to get a more specialised training.
Princess Bulkis' High School:
In order to keep pace with the growing demand for women secretaries and office workers the Government opened the Princess Bulkis School where languages, social science, book-keeping, home economics, human relations, and geography are taught. The curriculum is revised every year to adapt to changing conditions.

BASIC EDUCATION
Training Courses:
The Ministry of Education in co-operation with the Community Development Project trains a certain number of teachers specially to teach basic education in villages where the people have not had the opportunity to learn to read and write before as the schools in these areas are only for children. During the fourth year of the Plan 35 teachers graduated from this course, which was taken by local and foreign experts.
Audio-Visual Course:
The Audio-Visual course is attended by teachers from various schools in the city of Kabul. Graduates are supposed to teach in the new elementary schools being opened in various community centres. The Department of Basic Education has opened 75 elementary boys and girls schools along with a number of village schools, adult education courses and community centres, and distributed 18,198 magazines, text books, exercise books, charts and posters among the students. Four graduates of Kabul University have been employed to work with the officials of the Ministry of Education and teachers on the Community Development Project.
Photography:
Photographers of the Department of Basic Education have taken 1,095 pictures of towns, historic places, women's educational meetings, the Kabul Museum, factories, mechanical screws, and

Teachers' Day. These pictures are displayed in various community centres to broaden the outlook of villagers.
Films:
The mobile cinema unit which is always moving from province to province has shown 300 educational and agricultural films, in various boys and girls' schools. These films have been seen by 277,710 students, students' parents and villagers.
Educational Supplies:
In order to cope with the increasing demand for educational supplies the Ministry of Education has opened a supplying centre which works to organise the supply of audio-visual and other educational equipment. This centre also supplies the Department of Basic Education with material for its campaign against illiteracy and its Safety First programme.
Solar Projectors:
In order to avoid the expenses involved in showing educational films to the villagers through battery-operated projectors, the Department of Basic Education in co-operation with a number of local experts introduced solar projectors in various community centres. Most of the equipment is manufactured in Afghanistan but the Department has to import certain parts from abroad. There are now 250 of these solar projectors in use. The Department of Basic Education has prepared a number of film strips about Kabul Museum, documentaries on different parts of Afghanistan, films on scientific experiments and stories from Afghan folk-lore. Of the 500 films which the Department of Basic Education made during the fourth year of the Plan, 250 have their sound-track in Persian and 250 in Pakhto. These films are sent to schools where electricity is not available.
Adult Education Course:
The object of the campaign against illiteracy in the present changing world is not only to teach the people to read and write but also to educate them as good citizens. Therefore the Department of

14


Basic Education is planning to open a number of vocational courses, first in the capital and then in the provinces, so that the people can learn various arts and crafts and become more useful members of society.
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL PUBLICATIONS
The Department of Educational Publications has prepared, during the fourth year of the Plan, 120 different text books for elementary, secondary and high schools. The total circulation of these text-books runs into 3,000,000. This department has issued special text books to teach Persian to those living in the Pakhto-speaking areas of Afghanistan and Pakhto to those living in areas where chiefly Persian is spoken. The Department has also published two books on Pakhto literature and composition to help Persian-speaking students to master the language. Another important task of the Department of Educational Publications is that of translating and adapting foreign textbooks on various subjects for Afghanistan. It has prepared 135 different foreign text-books during the fourth year of the Plan. Of these 35 are to be printed in Kabul and the rest in Teheran.
The Department has also taken a number of steps to publish a large number of supplementary and reference books, most of which are translations from foreign languages.
As the printing facilities of the Ministry of Education are limited the Department of Educational Publications has managed to print seven school text-books by Gestetner.
In order to keep all those concerned with education up-to-date the Department of Educational Publications publishes a monthly magazine called " Irfan," which reflects changes in the philosophy of education, illustrates Afghanistan's culture and social heritage and eminent educationalists and their views on various educational subjects. A similar magazine

Reading Room in Kabul Public Library.
is run in Pakhto language quarterly. A second purpose of this magazine, " Pohana," is to give information about Pakhto literature to Persian-speaking teachers.
KABUL PUBLIC LIBRARY
During the fourth year of the Plan Kabul Public Library was supplied with reading lights, equipment for the auditorium, more magazines for the display hall and up-to-date catalogues. Weekly symposiums in which high school boys and girls take part and express their views on various subjects were started during the fourth year of the Plan. The library also runs a fortnightly publication which keeps the people informed about various educational activities throughout the country. Last but not least was the opening of a separate reference library to help undergraduates with their research in specialised fields.
FOREIGN RELATIONS
The Department of Foreign Relations in the Ministry of Education is a liaison office which links the Ministry with various organisations abroad. It is constantly in contact with U.N.E.S.C.O. and thus keeps the Ministry informed of new developments in education in the world; it also arranges to buy text-books and equipment from abroad. During the fourth year of the Plan two U.N.E.S.C.O. experts came to Kabul to study the present and future programmes in Afghanistan and exchange views with the authorities. U.N.E.S.C.O. also provided three experts

15


The Kabul Public Library is increasingly becoming a centre of attraction for the youth of the city. Group discussions are arranged during which girls and boys from various schools can express their views on diverse subjects. The photo shows the audience during one of these discussions.

for Kandahar technical school; the chief of the U.N.E.S.C.O. mission in Afghanistan worked as an advisor to elementary and secondary schools in the country and two U.N.E.S.C.O. experts continued their services with the Educational Press and Art School. Likewise U.N.E.S.C.O. sent three experts to Kabul to work in Kabul Museum for a short period and arranged for the display of Afghan school text-books in New Zealand. During the fourth year of the Plan the department made arrangements for various representatives of the Ministry of Education to take part in various international conferences and meetings.
The Seminar on Compulsory Elementary Education:
This seminar was arranged by U.N.E.S.C.O. in Karachi. Dr. Rawan Ferhadi represented Afghanistan. The Seminar finally decided that provided the disarmament question was resolved $80 billion should be spent on the education of qualified teachers for elementary schools.

Seminar on the Twentieth Conference on Education:
Afghanistan was represented at this conference by Dr. Mohammed Haider, and Dr. Mohammed Akram.
The agenda consisted of the preparation, selection and utilization of text-books in elementary schools, training of personnel, and progress of education and meetings for administrative personnel.
Vocational Education:
Co-sponsored by the International Labour Organisation and the National U.N.E.S.C.O. Commission of Japan for S.E. Asia countries, the seminar took place in Tokyo. Afghanistan was represented by Mr. Mohammed Nasim, who was elected Chairman of the seminar. The seminar discussed the relationship between vocational and technical education, the demand for skilled workers with special reference to the development of the country, the revision of educational programmes, technical and vocational guidance, selection of students and their vocational guidance, equipment and

16


and activities of national commissions,
the effect of industrialisation in social
life, elementary education in Asia, under-
standing and appreciation of East/West
cultural values, and recommendations for
the U.N.E.S.C.O. future programmes.
Afghanistan was represented at this
conference by Mr. Toryalay Itemadi.

Afghan Educational Delegation in
America:

Upon the invitation of the United States
Information Service a group of six
educational and editorial staff of the
Ministry of Education visited various
states where they inspected educational
facilities for six weeks.

Afghan Cultural Delegation to Iraq:

A group of four university professors
and writers visited cultural and educa-
tional institutes in Iraq at the invitation
of the Iraqi Government in May, 1960.

Afghan Education Delegation to the
Soviet Union:

In May, 1960, a delegation led by Dr.
Popal, Minister of Education, visited
various educational, scientific and cultural
institutes in the Soviet Union. Members
of the delegation were two important
officials of the Ministry of Education and
the Dean of the Faculty of Science of
Kabul University.

Scholarships and Fellowships:

Another important task of the Depart-
ment of Foreign Relations is to make
arrangements for Afghans to go abroad
and study on scholarships and fellowships
awarded by United Nations Specialised
Agencies and a few countries with which
Afghanistan has signed agreements on
exchange of students. During the fourth
year of the Plan many more students were
sent abroad on scholarships and fellow-
ships and twelve foreign scholars were
given facilities for research in Afghanistan
by the Department of Foreign Relations.

HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Although a large number of books
prepared by the Afghan Historical Society

Students of Kabul Technical School working
on new tools.

supplies for vocational and technical
schools, international exchange of
teachers and students, and the future
development of vocational and technical
education.

The First International Congress of
Turkish and Islamic Art:

Sponsored by the Ankara University,
congress was convened in October, 1959.
Dr. Mohammed Anas represented
Afghanistan. Two lectures were given at
the congress, one by Prof. Tochi of Italy
on Afghan Art during the Ghaznavid era:
and the second by Dr. Mohammed Anas
on Maulana Jalaluddin and his rôle in
Islamic countries. The material published
about the Ja'am Minaret and art during
the Ghaznavid era attracted the attention
of well known historians of art who were
attending the congress.

Seminar on East/West Understanding:

During its 10th International Confer-
ence U.N.E.S.C.O. decided that an Inter-
national Seminar should be arranged in
New Zealand in 1960. This seminar was
attended by 27 member states and several
international organisations and discussed
ways and means of bringing East and
West closer together in order to avoid
misunderstandings which tend to result
in war. Afghanistan was represented in
this seminar by Mr. Gholam Ali Ayeen.

The Second U.N.E.S.C.O. Regional
Conference:

Co-sponsored by the national
U.N.E.S.C.O. Commission of the Philip-
pine Government and U.N.E.S.C.O., this
conference was convened in January,
1960, for the countries of the South/East
Asia region with observers from the
United States, the Soviet Union, Great
Britain, France and the Netherlands. The
conference discussed the structure, duties

17


were destroyed in a huge fire which broke out in the Government Printing Press, the Society took a number of steps to get those valuable works rewritten. One of these books, the second volume of the Afghan History, was rewritten and published in Pakhto. Other publications of the Historical Society were "The Spread of Islam in Afghanistan," the second volume of "Kabul Citadel," "The Mausoleums in Kabul," "The Descendants of Chengez," and "The Documents of Shah Shuja Period."

DEPARTMENT OF MUSEUMS

The Department of Museums classified and catalogued 3,000 items uncovered in Mundigak and took steps in connection with the preservation of costumes collected at the Ethnography Section. Five hundred display cards were printed describing the Bagram finds.

In order to improve the display of ancient coins the Department of Museums imported a large number of special covers in which to display the coins in sections. To enhance the co-operation between the Central Museum and museums in the provinces all provincial museums formerly functioning under local municipalities were brought under the Department of Museums and many steps have been taken to rearrange their displays and bring up-to-date their organisation.

The Department of Museums in co-operation with the French Archæological Expedition, uncovered the Eastern base of the great Surkh Kotal Temple and found nine inscriptions in one place and forty-four in another. In Ghazni the Department succeeded in finding forty-two inscriptions on decorated marble bringing the total number to seventy-three. Most of these inscriptions bear either the name of Mahmood, the great Ghaznavid Emperor, or that of his son Masuod. In a place between Ghazni and Rouza the Italian Archæological Expedition has found a number of very

Kabul Museum is often visited by groups of students from various schools.

important stopas which they believe to be the greatest in the whole country.

Accidental Finds:

At Chardara, Kunduz, 176 different coins belonging to the Ghaznavid and Saljukid periods were found. These coins throw much light upon the reigns of different kings as far as the dates of their rise and fall is concerned.

The second accidental find was a stone axe uncovered at Daranoor, Nangarhar Province. The third was a scene from a Buddhist ceremony engraved on stone showing a number of Buddhists presenting their offerings to Buddha. Their mode of dress represents the local dress of the Koshanid period. This stone was uncovered in Kalakan, Kohdaman.

The Department of Museums has rearranged the collection of old manuscripts in a separate section and is planning to purchase all the publications about Afghanistan for reference purposes. So far 3,000 such publications have been bought and it is expected that the remaining books and pamphlets will reach the museum in due course. U.N.E.S.C.O. is expected to send three experts to help Kabul Museum with the arrangement of coins and manuscripts. The Asia Foundation awarded two scholarships to the Department to send two of its officials to Switzerland to learn decoration and display techniques. Likewise the Asia Foundation has made arrangements for cataloguing all items in Kabul Museum and sending abroad three more officials to study techniques for mending old manuscripts.

18


This unusual picture of a flower vendor was achieved by an Afghan student at the Teachers'
Training College, using the melted wax drops of different coloured burning candles.

19


Sculpture is
progressing in
the Fine Arts
School.

News of the day and of the world is posted
on the school bulletin board.

One of the experimental courses run from time
to time by the Institute of Education.

20


KABUL UNIVERSITY

Scale Model of the new Kabul University Campus.

One of the most remarkable activities of Kabul University during the fourth year of the Plan was the construction of new university buildings at Aliabad, Kabul, the foundation stone of which was laid by Prime Minister Sardar Mohammed Daoud on June 5th, 1960. The building site was surveyed under special contract by American Pacific Architects and the building plan was prepared by the firm and checked by the Ministry of Public Works with a consequent contract which was signed between the Ministry and the German construction firm, Hotchief A.G. The campus would consist of a gymnasium, a central library with a capacity for 50,000 books, a dormitory for 800 students and buildings for the Chancellory and the Faculties of Engineering, Agriculture, Science and Social Science.
Further, a contract was signed between the Ministry of Public Works and the Hochtief Company for the construction of a gymnasium bringing the total cost of the buildings to $6,958,645, of which the equivalent of 160,000 Afghanis will be provided by the government and the remainder by the I.C.A. Likewise, the cost of the gymnasium ($197,576) will be paid for partly by the Government and partly by the Asia Foundation. The University campus is scheduled to be completed within 1,000 days of commencement and the gymnasium will take one year.
Kabul University has made considerable progress in the reorganisation of its administration for great efficiency, adopting a new system of promotion for

Prime Minister Sardar Mohammed Daoud signing the memorial document for the new buildings of Kabul University. The foundation stone of the new campus was laid by him on June 5th.

21


teaching staff and providing more teachers for additional subjects.
The following table shows the increase in the number of students in various faculties of Kabul University:
Name of Faculty 1958-59 1960-61
Medicine and Pharmacology 357 361
Law ... ... ... 309 246
Science ... ... 322 298
Literature ... ... 172 165
Engineering and Agriculture 86 146
Theology ... ... 96 79
Economics ... ... 81 120
Medicine (Women) ... 58 73
Literature (Women) ... 33 58
Science (Women) ... 50 22
During the fourth year of the Plan 206 young men graduated from various Faculties and were employed in various organisations. The Faculty of Engineering and Agriculture sent out its very first batch of graduates this year. The following table shows the number of graduates of various faculties:
Name of Faculty Number of Graduates
Medicine ... ... 32
Law ... ... ... 57
Science ... ... 24
Theology ... ... 24
Economics ... ... 27
Engineering and Agriculture... 13
A few Faculties adopted the American system of semesters and credits. This system will eventually be adopted by all Faculties. The University provides board and lodging for 486 students whose families do not live near the University.
The University has started two periodicals, the Kabul University News which is a monthly, and a magazine on physical education.
The libraries of the Faculties of Science, Engineering and Agriculture, and Literature and of the Institute of Education have been reorganised and books have been catalogued according to up-to-date methods.

The Department of Foreign Relations of Kabul University is concerned with sending students abroad for specialised studies. During the fourth year of the Plan this department has sent 57 young men to the U.A.R., West Germany, Britain, France, Switzerland, the Soviet Union, the United States and Belgium to study education, atomic physics, organic chemistry, engineering, economics, medicine, motor repairs, physical education, wireless telephony, agriculture and mathematics. The Department of Foreign Relations also made arrangements for a number of Chinese students to study Pakhto and Persian Literature, a German scholar to make observations in the field of archaeology, and two Japanese students to study the Pakhto language on Kabul University Scholarships.
Twenty-two young Afghans obtained their doctorate or M.A. from universities of various foreign countries where they had studied.
In order to meet the growing demand for educational material, Kabul University has opened a supply centre with departments for compilation, graphic arts, audio-visual media and photography.
30,082,405 Afghanis were spent during the last financial year on the completion of laboratories, libraries and buildings for various faculties. In order to keep the teaching staff up-to-date the University has continued to send a number of teachers from various faculties to study in well-known universities in Europe and America. The curriculum of each faculty is revised every year with a view to giving students more up-to-date information on various subjects and the number of local professors has increased accordingly.
The Women's Faculty of Medicine has 61 students at present and the School of Nursing (men) and the School of Nursing (women) have both made considerable progress. There is still a shortage of local teachers.
The editorial board of the medical journal published by the Faculty of

22


different pills and is experimenting on 40
others.
The Faculty of Science has arranged
two courses for school teachers to provide
them with more information on physics
and chemistry and opened a new depart-
ment on meteorology. The faculty is also
conducting research on fauna and flora in
Afghanistan under the supervision of a
French professor.
The latest development in the Faculty
of Science has been the establishment of
the Afghan Atomic Energy Commission
to study the necessity for education on
atomic energy and the possibilities of
utilising atomic energy for industry and
agriculture. This commission is entrusted
with the task of making recommendations
to the government on matters relating to

Mr. Mohammed Asghar. Chancellor of Kabul
University, cutting the ribbon to open the
capital's tablet-making laboratory.

Medicine has printed ten papers written
by various professors.
The blood bank sponsored by the
Faculty of Medicine has collected and
donated more blood during the fourth
year of the Plan and many benefactors
have made donations to the bank.
The Aliabad 500-bed hospital has been
equipped with up-to-date equipment.
During the first part of the fourth year of
the Plan, 6,014 people were hospitalised
and treated. 3,600 were operated upon
and 7,150 ccs. of blood were transfused.
The 200-bed women's hospital was also
supplied with modern equipment.
The general clinics of Kabul University
treated 255,882 men and women, hos-
pitalised 7,402 people and supplied 18,036
patients with medicine during the first
part of the fourth year.
The most important step taken in the
field of pharmacology has been the
importation and installation of equipment
for a complete pharmaceutical plant which
supplies all the hospitals in the country
thus saving a lot of foreign exchange.
The plant has so far manufactured 26

Students of the fourth grade of the Faculty of
Medicine in their class room.

The Faculty of Science has a modern building equipped
with all facilities.

23


Students of the Faculty of Engineering during practical field surveying.

atomic energy and its development. According to the request of the Commission the International Atomic Energy Agency has agreed to grant a number of scholarships to Afghan scholars to study new techniques in the field of atomic energy. The Agency also sent a commission to Afghanistan to survey the possibility of utilising atomic energy in the country. Consequently the Agency agreed to send an atomic energy expert with the necessary equipment to Kabul to establish an atomic energy laboratory in the Faculty of Science. The Chairman of the Afghan Atomic Energy Commission, Dr. Kakar, who is also the Dean of the Faculty of Science took part in the third general conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency which was convened in Vienna in 1959.

Institute of Education
The Institute of Education has been very active during the fourth year of the Plan and has revised a great number of text books for the seventh, eighth and ninth grades of Ibnisina school, guiding the teachers of social subjects in ways of using local material, arranging a social science laboratory and inviting a number of important people to give lectures in their own fields.
The Institute has compiled history and geography text books and arranged a social science laboratory for the Teachers' Training College. It has also supplied the text for social studies in the Faculty of Literature.
The Institute has arranged winter courses for men and women teachers and helped all teachers in Kabul schools by way of personal contacts and provision of new teaching material. Winter courses are attended annually by men and women teachers from all over the country and local educational meetings are arranged in provincial centres with representatives of the Ministry of Education taking part.
The English Department of the Institute of Education has sent out its

The Institute of Education has a well stocked library.

first batch of graduates and co-operated with English teachers—in Ibnisina School, Teachers Training College, Habibia College and Rabia Balkhi School. The Department has also provided instructors for the Post Graduate Course, and 17 courses were arranged for men and women teachers. The Department has compiled the second and third volumes of "English for the Afghans."
The Institute of Education in co-operation with the Boy Scout Association arranged courses on Scouting. The Department of Publications has published

24


99 different books in English, Persian and
Pakhto on various subjects to help
teachers and students throughout the
country. The Library of the Institute of
Education contains 6,000 books in
English, Pakhto, Persian and Arabic.
These books deal chiefly with the latest
methods of education.
Last, but not the least, is the establish-
ment of the Post Graduate Course which
has been attended by the graduates of
the Faculties of Science and Literature.
This course takes two years, and subjects
taught include secondary education,
present-day Afghanistan, fundamentals
of teaching, essentials of teaching, science
in the modern world, English, progressive
methods of teaching, teaching and evalua-
tion, Islamic culture and education and
educational requirements of the present-
day world.

The Chancellor of Kabul University (first row,
extreme left) at the opening of winter courses in
the Institute of Education.

The Grand Mosque of Herat which has been restored under royal patronage by local craftsmen.

25


AGRICULTURE

Prime Minister Sardar Moham-med Daoud in-specting the rams belonging to the Animal Husbandry Development Organisation in Kataghan.

During the fourth year of the Plan the Ministry of Agriculture has taken many steps to increase the agricultural output of the country by bringing farming equip-ment up to date and using new methods to protect crops and livestock against disease. The Ministry has also imported a great variety of new and more produc-tive seed strains. Teams from the Ministry of Agriculture travelled all over the country demonstrating new and more productive methods to farmers, using film strips and practical demonstration. The experimental farms in Kabul and throughout the country were greatly extended. Hybrid seedlings which had been developed on experimental farms were sold to the general public at a cheap rate in order to encourage them to use these superior plants. The services of additional foreign experts were valuable

on experiments to improve horticulture, agriculture, poultry farming, dairy farm-ing, animal and plant preservation. Besides the F.A.O. and I.C.A. technicians who have been working on various projects, a forestry delegation of the People's Republic of China visited various natural forests in the country and presented a report to the Ministry which included suggestions for the preservation and extension of the existing one million hectares of forest in Afghanistan.
The Department of Legislation:
The Ministry of Agriculture has during the fourth year of the Plan introduced some forms of legislation to help improve farming conditions. Six Bills to deal with the organisation and regulation of farmers' meetings, land lease, irrigation, and farm hands, were prepared for the purpose of legislation. Five more projects

26


are under consideration for forestry,
plantations, horticulture, veterinary and
quarantine. The Bills and projects will
become law after they have been approved
by the Council of Ministers and ratified
in both Houses of Parliament.
The Department of Plant Preservation:
The Department of Plant Preservation
took a number of important steps to
protect crops against various insects
which cause considerable damage. Scores
of combat squads were sent to various
provinces to observe the symptoms of
plant diseases and collect the insects for
laboratory experiments. These insects
were preserved in the growing collection
of the Department, which means, of
course, that most research can now be
done on the spot.
The Department carried out a number
of experiments on local and Indian
strains of sugarcane and discovered that
the Indian variety had been more resistant
to cold and yielded double that of the
local sugarcane. The Ministry has now
imported a certain amount of Indian
sugarcane and distributed it among some
farmers in Nangarhar Province. Results
have been very encouraging according to
laboratory of the Sugar Refinery in
Jalalabad.
The combat squads of the Department
sprayed apple orchards in Karizmir
against a certain disease caused by an
insect. This greatly improved the condi-
tion of the crop. The vineyards in
Kohdaman were sprayed against disease
and 71,744 vine trees were protected. In
Maimana 1,400 kilos of insecticide were
used to make the wheat grain immune to
a disease which causes shrinkage.
The laboratory of the Department of
Plant Preservation carried out a number
of experiments on rice and maize seeds
which were sent by the International
Organisation for Cereal Seeds and experi-
ments on various bacteria were carried
out in order to develop methods of
protection against them. The Department
also arranged a course given by an
F.A.O. expert on ways and means of
diagnosing plant disease for the staff of
various laboratories.
Of the 142 strains of wheat sent to the
Ministry by the F.A.O. a few yielded
satisfactory results. These were reculti-
vated for the purpose of distribution
among enterprising farmers. These
strains have proved more resistant to
diseases and more adaptable to local
environment.
The Department of Production:
The Department of Agriculture Produc-
tion is running and supervising a number
of experimental farms to introduce better
strains of plant and new methods of
farming and horticulture. At Aliabad
farm, thousands of fruit seedlings were
planted during the fourth year of the
Plan and those which had been planted
already were grafted and pruned. The
area of these farms was extended by 53
acres and the additional land was used
for nurseries. At Guzerga experimental
farm the area was extended by four acres
and hundreds of fruit and decorative
plants were grafted and pruned according
to modern methods. At Chamean Hozori
where the Independence Celebrations are
held in August various flowers and fruit
seedlings were put by the roadsides and
in beds. At Gulbagh old poplar trees
were replaced by various fruit seedlings
and mulberry seedlings were planted over
three acres for grafting purposes. In
Bagh Bland more foreign strains were
experimented with, and the total number
of plants, including fruit and decorative
bushes ran into 15,613, and 30,000 vine
seedlings were planted for grafting pur-
poses. Graft segments from 18 varieties
of apricot and cherry trees were imported
from North America for 160 seedlings and
when these bear fruit the seeds will be
sown again. The result of grafting these
varieties with local trees has been remark-
able as they are very resistant to cold and
drought. Likewise, decorative seedlings
were imported from India for experiments
in Nangarhar and eight strains of sugar-

27


beet from Czechoslovakia for Baghlan. These strains are more suitable for local farming conditions and yield a higher percentage of sugar.

The Department of Animal Husbandry:
The Department of Animal Husbandry is chiefly concerned with the manufacture of various vaccines against animal diseases, the running and supervision of laboratories for artificial insemination, poultry breeding, and the veterinary school. During the fourth year of the Plan the Department has managed to manufacture vaccines against eight different diseases. Altogether the amount of vaccine manufactured was sufficient to inoculate 1,082,850 animals. 663,479 different animals throughout the country were inoculated against nine different diseases by 30 combat squads. The combat squads distributed 239,116 pills for a typical sheep disease and 50,538 pills against another prevalent disease generally contracted by sheep.
The animal husbandry clinics treated, during the fourth year of the Plan, 1,077 animals in the capital and managed to install equipment for the clinics in Katagan, Kandahar, Mazarisharif and Nangarhar Provinces.
The laboratory for artificial insemination has been making great progress, with a branch which functions in Jalalabad during the winter and a new permanent clinic in Kataghan. The Department of Animal Husbandry is planning to open more of these laboratories in all important centres in order to produce better animal strains throughout the country.
The poultry farm in Bini Hissar has been completed and provided with 3,600 chicks and 600 Chinese ducklings. The farm is planning to gather the eggs for distribution among interested farmers. The poultry farm in Kabul has distributed thousands of eggs among farmers to increase the imported strains of chickens and ducks in the country.
The new veterinary school sent out its first batch of 25 graduates this year to

work in various veterinary centres in the country. The school has three classes and 106 students at present. A breeding centre in Nangarhar Province was opened this year and 42 cows and bulls of a better strain were imported from India for breeding purposes. The sheep breeding centre in Kandahar distributed a large number of an improved strain of Merino and local sheep among farmers.

The Department of Agricultural Extension:
The Department of Extension opened a course for its 18 extension staff and relevant subjects were taught by foreign experts working with the Ministry of Agriculture. The students joined a number of farmers after their graduation to work with them in the wheat fields where they introduced a better strain of wheat in the suburbs of Kabul. They also persuaded the farmers to cultivate a certain American strain of clover, called Buffalo, and a few strains of American maize. Nine of the graduates were posted in five locations in Kabul Province and elsewhere, to run extension centres in their areas. These extension offices showed a number of agricultural films to the farmers, demonstrated spraying in fields and vineyards, and convinced farmers about the practical methods of modern farming. Their efforts resulted in a great demand on the part of the farmers for artificial manure and spraying material and equipment which were provided in co-operation with the Agricultural Bank, at reasonable rates. The extension officers made a considerable effort in their campaign against vine disease. In Kabul Province and Kohdaman they sprayed 14,505,930 vine trees. In various places in Kohdaman they sprayed fruit trees with sulphur and other insecticides and in Paghman they made 3,000 kilometres of arable land immune against rats. These officers supervised the reaping of clover, wheat and maize which had been grown by farmers from seeds supplied for experimental purposes.

28


Another extension course was opened at the Ministry to provide the officials concerned with more up-to-date information on the cultivation of wheat, maize and clover and better ways of using artificial manure. Four additional extension officers were posted in four locations in Logar where they cultivated a strain of American wheat and used artificial fertilisers in five fields. The result of this cultivation in Logar and other parts of the country where the extension officers have been working has been satisfactory and more seeds were distributed among farmers to experiment with. In Chilsutoon, a hybrid American maize was introduced by demonstration teams consisting of the F.A.O. experts, technicians of the Wyoming University and those of the I.C.A. and students of the School of Agriculture. The result of this has been very encouraging.

The Department of Extension has opened new bee-keeping centres in Kohdaman, Parwan and Maidan and equipped each centre with hives supervised by specialists. These specialists have managed to attract wild bees to the hives and collect honey. A number of bee-keeping technicians and students have been sent to Ahingaran to start bee-keeping in this village, which provides ideal conditions.

The Department of Extension has made remarkable progress in sericulture by means of increasing the production of silk cocoons in three different breeding centres, namely, Tapatajbeg, Paghman and Gulbahar. Gift boxes of cocoons have been distributed among farmers in Panjsher and Salang. Demonstrations were given by the F.A.O. experts to encourage sericulture in those areas. The Department of Extension also provided the Community Development Project and the Sericulture Institute of Baghlan with a considerable amount of new hybrid cocoons for experimental purposes. The sericulture centres in Najarkhana, Darulaman, Gulbahar and Abdulkhel extended their mulberry plantation to feed more silkworms and building plans for the new centres have been prepared and money allocated to provide better facilities for breeding better silkworms and 51 new students have been recruited from Badakhshan and other parts of the country to study sericulture.

The Prime Minister looking through a microscope at the plant insects at Baghlan Agricultural Laboratory.


The quarterly magazine called
"Karhana" has been changed to a
monthly and every effort has been made
to make the content easily assimilated by
farmers and all sorts of illustrations have
been used to make agricultural improve
ment understandable to the people. Radio
programmes were arranged once a week
to keep the farmers all over the country
informed about up-to-date methods of
farming and writers were encouraged to
improve their scripts by the offer of three
different prizes.
THE DEPARTMENT OF SOIL AND WATER
This department is chiefly concerned
with the constant supply of water and the
conservation of soil. During the fourth
year of the Plan the Department repaired
and improved the Ajmir Canal in
Kataghan Province to keep irrigation
water flowing for the sugarbeet fields in
Baghlan and other adjoining areas in
co-operation with the F.A.O. experts.
The Department also repaired and
improved the Archi Canal which irrigates
thousands of acres of fertile land in
Kataghan and surveyed the area for the
building of another canal in Alchin which
would irrigate 7,000 additional acres by
means of a pumping station. Efforts
have been made to re-dig the old canals
destroyed in Nangarhar Province for the
purpose of irrigating vast areas of fallow
land. Hundreds of small pumping
stations are to be distributed soon among
farmers in Katawaz and Ghazni where
the scarcity of water is acutely felt and
irrigation water has to be obtained from
deep wells.
The Department has also made con
siderable progress in connection with the
analysis of various samples of soil from
various parts of the country. For
example, the experts of the Department
have collected 400 samples of various
soils from Kataghan Province, 16 from
Badakhshan, 118 from Karabagh, 120
from Nangarhar and 100 from private
farms in various places at the owners'
request.

The Arch of Bist in Girishk


COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

The Community Development Project was launched in August, 1954 covering only two villages but in September, 1959 the Five Year Development Plan envisaged 15 units for the project, which included 1,050 villages at a cost of 170,330,000 Afghanis. In December, 1955 the Community Development Project had 81 villages in Shiwaki and in May, 1956 community development activities were extended to Logar to cover the upper part of Logar valley. In 1959 a new project was started in Jabulseraj and the project in Logar was split into two units.
The Community Development Project is running training courses for a number of young men to organise the management of various community centres. The course arranged in Gulzar sent out 30 graduates during the fourth year of the Plan and the following course is planned for 50 people to get one year's training in management. The students for these courses are selected from various community centres and after their graduation they return to their original centre as superintendents. A four-week refresher course was arranged for 45 community superintendents with satisfactory results. The length of leadership courses was extended from three weeks to eleven weeks. In co-operation with the Ministry of Education the Community Development Project arranged that teachers from the eleventh grade of the Teachers' Training College should attend these leadership courses so that they will be better equipped for their careers as community centre teachers. To date 250 students have graduated from the above mentioned courses and the audio-visual basic education courses.
A one-year course on industrial co-operation was started in April, 1959 with eleven students who had graduated from high school. These students will be employed after their graduation in the industrial co-operatives of the community centres.
In December, 1959 the experts of the community development project arranged a course on the principles and management of community centres for the staff of various units.
This course has been so popular that the staff have asked that the course should be extended from two to four weeks.
A similar course was arranged for the heads of various community centres and maintenance staff and inspectors in March, 1960. Much attention was paid to questions such as surveying of projects, planning, community organisation and their rôle in the development of villages.
The Community Development Project is arranging intensive courses for their medical staff and also provides the opportunity for the graduates of the faculty of medicine to watch qualified medical staff at work. Graduates from the one-month course qualified for midwives and the one and a half year course to train midwives' assistants were sent out during the fourth year of the Plan. Likewise close contact was established with the sanitarian school and students were received in the clinics of the community development project to watch work in process.
The construction work on the Gulzar unit was accelerated in April, 1959 to provide facilities for training courses and offices. The building will cost 10,000,000 Afghanis, will accommodate 250 people with a hall, an open air theatre and a display room. A 35 acre experimental farm, and model poultry and dairy farms have been planned. Steps have been taken to substitute foreign experts by local teachers.
The Community Development Project has paid a considerable amount of attention to agricultural activities such as arranging demonstrations of improved farming implements and introducing new

31


A batch of newly-graduated assistant midwives.
methods of cultivation. Campaigns against plant and animal diseases were intensified and sericulture started to boost the economy of villages. To help the local farmers the project experts of each unit treated corn seed with insecticide, distributed imported strains of various crops among farmers, planted and pruned trees in accordance with new methods of horticulture and distributed silk cocoons among interested villagers. 60,000 seedlings were planted in Gulzar unit, of which 20,000 were later redistributed to other units.
The Community Development Project is equipped with one central clinic, four unit clinics and a mobile clinic unit which tours remote villages. Mother and child welfare has been given much consideration and most expectant mothers are hospitalised and mothers are provided with special coupons for milk and vitamins for the babies.
To provide hygenic drinking water the project has arranged for 48 deep wells to be sunk in Shaiwaki and a spring in Kishlak village was converted into a water reservoir. The villagers have been shown new methods of building sanitary water closets and the existing lavatories have been greatly improved.
In order to equip villages with craftsmen the community project opened a carpentry workshop in Shaiwaki in April, 1958. The workshop sent out 8 graduates in 1960 and 12 new students from Nooristan and Shaiwaki were admitted in April, 1960.
Leatherwork was also given priority and in 1958 a leather workshop was planned in Charikar with equipment costing $8,000. This has now been completed.
So far 34 elementary schools for boys and 13 elementary schools for girls have been opened in various community centres and 16 adult education courses arranged. Various recreation centres have been opened in villages where people can have tea, listen to music and play indoor games. The community domestic and welfare course for girls sent out 43 graduates to help village women to better housewives, mothers and citizens. Handicrafts, cookery, home economy, child care, simple arithmetic, knitting, dressmaking, embroidery and composition, form part of the course. In June, 1959 a similar course was opened in the first unit of Logar project with 12 students.
The Community Development project is at present equipped with six kindergartens which are a novelty to villagers and have proved highly popular.
One of the main problems of the community development project has been the question of housing. This question has been attacked on all sides and the blueprints of an ideal community centre have been prepared. The plan includes a mosque, market place, school, houses and playing grounds.
Steps have also been taken to avoid the undesirable effect brought about by citizens building independent houses which have not been approved by the planning authorities.
Shaiwaki has been selected as the site
32


for the building of this first ideal community centre and the first houses have already been constructed, in co-operation with the government, which has provided part of the funds on loan.
The villagers themselves are very active in community work and have taken part in the building work, made generous donations to the value of over 901,954 Afghanis and generally assisted the community development project.
Community centre councils to aquaint local elders with the objectives of community development are being encouraged. The first of these councils, which was opened in January, 1960, in Sayedkhel has proved very popular.
The United Nations and its specialised agencies such as the I.L.O., F.A.O., W.H.O., U.N.E.S.C.O. and U.N.I.C.E.F. have assisted the Community Development Project in many ways. The United

Nations Technical Assistance Board in Afghanistan has provided $15,000 worth of foreign implements and books and another $15,000 will be allocated soon. It has also arranged foreign tours for officials of the Project and granted fellowships for members of the staff to study abroad. One of these tours has been co-sponsored by the Asia Foundation. The U.N.I.C.E.F. has provided $55,000 to help supply preventive and curative medicine, as well as providing soap, vitamins, condensed milk, and $92,000 have been allocated in the 1960-61 budget for various units. The I.L.O. provided $8,000 for the purchase and installation of leather works machinery.
The Asia Foundation has also played an important part in furthering the aims and objectives of the community development project by providing $38,600 and 306,897 Afghanis.

A village scene in Nooristan.

33


MINES AND INDUSTRIES

His Majesty the
King formally
opening the Gul-
bahar Textile
Mills. The Minister
of Mines and
Industries and the
President of the
Textile Company
are seen on either
side of His
Majesty.

The Ministry of Mines and Industries,
which is entrusted with the task of
organising Afghanistan's industry and
mineral resources, has made considerable
progress during the fourth year of the
Plan. The Plan aims at establishing an
equilibrium between the economic
structure of the country and the produc-
tion of consumer goods in order to pave
the way for economic progress in the
future and to raise the immediate standard
of living of the people without importing
a heavy amount of foreign goods.
To achieve this the Government has
invested heavily in basic industries such
as petroleum, coal, electricity and cement
while free enterprise was given the
opportunity to make investments in con-
sumer goods such as textiles, porcelain,
and so on. Sometimes when the need
arises, both Government and private
capital is utilised to start a new industry,

but generally private capital is put into
short term enterprise.

THE DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRIES
The Departmen of Industries works as
a liaison between the Government and
various industries in connection with
Government investment and is also con-
cerned with the protection of private
industries by providing them with low
rates of exchange, exemption from
customs duty on their imports of
machinery, building materials and raw
materials, granting credits and arranging
special training courses. Further, the
project Bill for mines and petroleum
which was presented to the Parliament
should prepare the ground for more
Government, private and foreign invest-
ment in mines and petroleum.
The Gulbahar Textile Mills, which con-
tain 43,000 spindles, 1,200 automatic

34


weaving machines and departments for controlling temperature, humidity, etc., was opened by His Majesty the King on June 22nd, 1960. The mills have a capacity for 50,000,000 metres of cotton cloth per day, they have been planned to be worked in three shifts, and they will produce all sorts of white and coloured cotton fabrics. The ultra-modern building was designed and the machinery installed by German technicians and cost $25,000,000. A completely new town with electricity, hot and cold water, and other facilities has been built beside the factory for its workers and officials. The factory is expected to provide full employment for 5,000 people.
The Jangalak plant, which was opened by His Majesty the King on July 2nd, contains departments for repairing motor vehicles and manufacturing and repairing all kinds of spare parts. The department for repair has a capacity for 1,400 cars per annum. This plant cost $3,000,000, part of which was supplied by the Government and part by free enterprise. Work on this factory was begun by German technicians but it was completed with the aid of Soviet credit and technicians.
The Margarine and Soap factories in Kunduz were completed in co-operation

Prime Minister Sardar Mohammed Daoud at Kunduz Porcelain Plant.

with German technicians and cost $4,000,000. These factories have an annual capacity for ginning 40,000 tons of cotton, expelling 4,500 tons of cotton-seed oil and producing 1,800 tons of toilet and washing soaps.
The Khanabad hydro-electric project was completed with the help of German technicians and cost a total of $2,000,000. It has a capacity for 1,400 kilowatts and supplies these three factories in Kunduz.
The Grishk hydro-electric station, which has a capacity for 3,500 kilowatts, was completed in co-operation with the United States International Co-operation Administration.
The Department of Industries extended and renovated the Woollen Textile Factory in Kandahar with the assistance of Polish technicians. The Match Factory in Kabul was extended and the Diesel Power Project in Farah was completed during the fourth year of the Plan.
The following projects are expected to be completed at the end of the fourth year of the economic plan:
The Ghori Hydro-electric Project, which is being built with the aid of Soviet credit and technicians, will have a capacity of 9,000 kilowatts.
The Ghori Cement Factory, which is being built with the aid of Czechoslovak credit and technicians, and will have a capacity of 200 tons of cement per day. This factory will be extended during the second five-year Plan to produce 400 tons of cement per day.
The Preserve Factory of Kandahar, which is being built with Czechoslovak credit and technicians, will have a capacity for 35,000 tons of tinned and bottled jams, syrups and processed dried fruits.
The Zindadanan Motor Repair Factory, which will be completed with American aid and technicians.
The Kandahar Motor Repair Factory, which will be completed with United States aid and technicians.
The Vegetable Oil Factory in Mazari-sharif.

35


Women at work in a Silk Rayon Factory in Kabul.

During the fourth year of the Plan, work was begun on two great projects to harness Kabul river. The Naghlo Power Project will have a capacity of 60,000 kilowatts and the Daroonta Multi-purpose Project is intended to irrigate the adjoining deserts and produce 10,000 kilowatts at the same time.
One of the main problems of industrial development in Afghanistan has been the training of personnel on different levels. As a solution to the problem many technical schools have been established in the country and all industrial establishments have taken steps to train their workers on the job with the aid of local and foreign technicians. Also a number of men are sent abroad each year to get more specialised training. As an example, 49 people were sent abroad for this purpose during the fourth year of the Plan.

THE DEPARTMENT OF MINES
The measures adopted by the Department of Mines under the fourth year of the economic Plan were calculated to increase production in existing mines and pave the way for extensive development in the future by means of research and investigation.
In the field of petroleum, prospecting an area of 43,000 square kilometres, which had been previously explored by Soviet experts, was explored more extensively during the fourth year of the Plan. The second phase of seismic operations and the preparation of geological maps with a scale of 1/50,000 have been completed.
Drilling for petroleum in favourable rocks continued. Three oil wells which have a total depth of 3,800 metres were drilled during the first three years of the Plan. During the fourth year considerable layers of rock containing petroleum and natural gas were discovered. An area of approximately 72,000 square miles was marked out for oil prospecting and arrangements were made to prepare geological maps of this area. To facilitate

36


ground photography, made considerable
progress during the fourth year of the
Plan. It was equipped with a workshop,
warehouses, archives and a laboratory.
The institute has now more than 100,000
aerial and ground photographs and the
work of captioning the geographic loca-
tions on the pictures has been partly
completed. The institute will soon have a
laboratory for copying photographs.
In the field of hydrometry, pigels have
been installed in river Kabul and its
tributaries to determine the level of water
in different seasons. To utilise under-
ground waters in areas where pure drink-
ing water is not available a number of
deep wells have been dug with consider-
able success and orders have been placed
with various firms to supply the necessary
equipment.
Geological surveying in co-operation
with the German Technical Assistance
Mission continues in the south-east and
south-west regions and studies were made,
especially in the south-east regions, in
order to find geological structures con-
taining oil and natural gas.
Likewise investigations were continued
on radioactive material with the assistance
of the French Atomic Energy Experts.
The Institute has employed a number of
promising young men and is sending four
of them to study geology and hydrology
abroad.
Other mines throughout the country
have been surveyed and arrangements
have been made to supply the oil
prospecting organisation in northern
Afghanistan with local minerals which
they need. Studies were continued in
co-operation with Soviet technicians to
find out the extent of iron deposits in the
country and the economic conditions
under which they should be exploited.
An extensive programme has been
prepared to train mining personnel both
in Afghanistan and abroad and 22
students have been sent to various
countries for further training.

A model wearing a dress made of the fabrics
woven in Feroz Factory.

the oil prospecting both areas were
equipped with repair workshops for motor
vehicles and a laboratory was established
in Mazarisharif to analyze various crude
oils.
Production of coal at Aishpushta and
Karkar mines was increased by
mechanisation. One generator, with
a capacity for 250 kilowatts was installed
for each of the two mines. Miners were
provided with houses and seedlings were
planted around the mines in order to
provide timber for the mines in the future.
Studies were made in a vast area between
Mazarisharif and Herat to try to deter-
mine the extent of coal deposits in the
country with a view to preparing the next
five-year economic plan.
The Institute of Geological Survey,
which has departments for geology,
minerology, paleontology, aerial and
37


TABLE OF MAJOR INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION IN AFGHANISTAN
During the month of Hoot (February/March 1960)
Cotton Fabrics (in thousand metres) 13,120.4
Jute Fabrics (in thousand metres) 22.1
Cotton Yarn (in thousand bundles) 1.1
Woollen Fabrics (in thousand metres) 17.3
Matches (in thousand dozens) 39.8
Soap (in thousand cakes) 220.0
Cement (in tons) 3,445.0
China (in single pieces) 17,803.0
Sugar (in tons) 4,475.0
Coal (in tons) 5,938.0
CAPACITY AND PRODUCTION OF ELECTRICITY IN AFGHANISTAN
During the Year 1959/60
PLANT CAPACITY PRODUCTION IN KILOWATT HOURS
Sarobi 22,000 37,796,183
Pulikhumri 4,800 10,765,000
Jabalseraj 2,840 2,586,600
Wardag 3,360 7,183,800
A nomad camp in a valley near Kabul.
38


PUBLIC WORKS
His Majesty, followed by the Minister of Public Works, on an inspection tour at the Salang Pass
During the fourth year of the Plan the Ministry of Public Works has been able to complete a number of projects and has been working on a number of other projects which will soon be completed.
The Jalalabad-Torkham highway which is 130 kilometres long, has been laid and is now ready for asphalting. The Kabul-Matak highway, which is 67 kilometres long, is also ready for asphalting. The Kizil-Kala-Doshi highway, which is 235 kilometres long, has been completed. The Alchin bridge on the River Kunduz has been built under a contract with the Soviet Techno-Export Company. This bridge is 120 metres long and 8.90 metres wide. It has been constructed of steel and concrete and will bear 60 tons. With the completion of this bridge the distance between Kunduz and Kizil Kala has been shortened by about seven hours.
The Salang highway, which will be the most important route connecting the capital with the northern provinces, will be 200 kilometres shorter than the existing Shikari highway. The agreement for the construction of the Salang highway was signed between the Ministry of Public Works and the Soviet Techno-Export Company on April 18th, 1958, and it was decided that the road should be constructed in three sections: The first section connecting Doshi with Doshakh has been laid and is in the process of being asphalted. This section is between nine and 10 metres wide but the corners have a special width to avoid collisions in heavy traffic. Corners are 125 metres wide on the lowland and 60 metres wide
39


Road-building equipment preparing the Salang highway.

His Majesty walking along an unprepared part of the Salang Highway.


in the mountains, except in cases when the rocks have been especially difficult to blast and corners are 20 metres wide. Many bridges have been built in the first section and a hotel has been built to provide accommodation for travellers.
The second section connecting Jaba-lseraj with Olang is 30 kilometres long, is also ready for asphalting and the same procedure for the corners has been adopted.
The third section connecting Olang with Doshakh, which is 25 kilometres long, including the tunnel which is 2.5 kilometres long, and also has an iron and concrete bridge, is under construction. Each section has been provided with repair workshops, warehouses and housing for road maintenance personnel.
With the completion of this highway, which would pass through the highest passes of the Hindu Kush Mountains, Afghanistan will have one of the best

highways in the region, which will be both picturesque and very practical.
The Torkham-Kabul highway, which is 77 miles long, has now been asphalted by the I.C.A. technicians under a special agreement which was signed between the Ministry of Public Works and the I.C.A. on June 21st, 1958.
According to another agreement between the Ministry and the I.C.A. on March 3rd, 1957, the I.C.A. has been providing the necessary asphalting machinery for the road maintenance project.
Another agreement was reached on June 3rd, 1958, with an American Company to build and asphalt the Spinboldak-Kandahar highway. An agreement was signed with another American company for the surveying and photographing of the site and the actual work began in September, 1959.
The Bagram Airport has been very

Machinery at work at Kabul airport.

Prime Minister Sardar Mohammed Daoud signing the document which will be placed at the foundations of Kabul airport.


Premier Sardar Mohammed Daoud officially opening the Port of Kizil Kala by cutting the traditional tri-colour ribbon.
General view of Kizil Kala port on the Oxus.
Petrol pumping unit at Kizil Kala.
Premier Sardar Mohammed Daoud, himself a keen admirer of modern architecture, makes a critical study of the plans for the new city of Talukan.
42


nearly completed under a special agreement with the Soviet Techno-Export Company. The airport comprises a main taxi-way which is 4.36 kilometres long and has an area of 47,600 square metres; a connecting taxi-way with an area of 16,700 square metres; a southern run-way with a total area of 5,200 square metres and a northern run-way with a total area of 5,200 square metres. All the above-mentioned sections of the airport have been completed and are in use.
A small canal with a length of 5,520 metres has been constructed in order to drain the airport. Provisions have been made for the installation of lighting throughout the airport, and receiving and transmitting equipment for the communications building. Five hangars fitted out with modern equipment have been built. They have concrete surfaces and a total area of 76,000 square metres. The control tower, garages, workshops, the filling station, transformer house, a twenty-bed hospital and a polyclinic are nearing completion. Other buildings for storage, refrigeration, central heating, hydrogen production, pilot quarters, oxygen production, laboratories and workshops will soon be completed.

The Kabul airport, which is also being built by the Soviet Techno-Export Company, has runways, taxi-ways, refuelling facilities, lighting, water pumps, drainage system, central heating, communications centre, air terminal building, and so on. The whole project will be completed within one and a half years.
The Habibia High School, which is being built on Darulaman Avenue by the Hochtief A.G. Company, will have 49 classes, 28 offices, 15 laboratories, a large library, two reading rooms, a large hall, hot and cold water and lavatories. This four-storey building will occupy a total area of 15,000 square metres. The school will also have large playing fields and a lawn. Siemens Company will furnish and install the electrical fittings. The complete building will cost 24,000,000 Afghanis.
The Public Health Institute building, which will have an auditorium for 800 people and will occupy 10,500 square metres, is nearing completion. It will have four storeys and will cost 28,000,000 Afghanis.
A 300-bed hospital is being built near Kabul by the Hochtief A.G. construction company. It will have three wings, each

Brigadier-General Mohammed Azeem, Acting Deputy Minister of Public Works (centre seated) and Mr. Golorey, Economic and Technical Counsellor of the Soviet Embassy in Kabul (on his left) signing the Jalalabad irrigation project.

48


Mr. Mohammed Kabir, Minister of Public Works, and Mr. Degtyar, Soviet Ambassador in Kabul, signing the Kizil Kala protocol.

with a capacity for 100 beds, and will cost 33,000,000 Afghanis.
A new Foreign Office building is being built to the north of the existing Foreign Office premises. It is being constructed of iron and concrete and the outside will be covered with decorative marble. There will be two wings, one with three storeys and the other one storey. The three-

storey wing will be used for offices and the other wing will contain reception rooms and halls. Hochtief A.G. will install central heating and Siemens will supply equipment for the communications centre, telephones, clocks and electricity.
A new studio building for Radio Kabul is being built by the Unimac Company on the edge of the old Kabul airport and will occupy 2,650 square metres and cost 30,000,000 Afghanis. This three-storey building will have 22 offices, one library, two warehouses, 14 studios and a large auditorium.
The two other buildings nearing completion are the Commercial Bank, which will occupy 25,000 square metres and cost 15,000,000 Afghanis, and the Ministry of Mines and Industries new building.
The Kargha Dam has been repaired and a considerable amount of water stored in the basin, to irrigate the adjoining areas and it is expected that the repair work will soon be finished.

Early autumn in rugged Afghanistan.


COMMUNICATIONS

During the fourth year of the Plan the Ministry of Communications has opened 85 new post offices, completed 14 new buildings for post offices, and has made arrangements for the completion of the channel system telephone communications between Kabul, Kandahar and Farah; Kabul and Torkham; and Kabul and Mazarisharif. Several new telegraph transmitters and receivers have been installed and the first telephoto transmitting centre has been opened.
During the fourth year of the Plan the volume of telegraphic communication has increased by 12 per cent.; 30 teleprinters were imported, and students were recruited for training in their operation. Five telegraph stations were opened in Shindand, Shibirghan, Kizil Kala, Ghorat and Talukan. Wireless telephony has been considerably extended by the import of new equipment connecting Kabul with the United States, Europe, Pakistan, Iran and India. Wireless telephone connections between Kabul, Kandahar, Mazar, Maimana, Herat, Kunduz and Pulikhumri which were set up during the first three years of the Plan have been working very well. The revenue obtained from the wireless telephone communications increased by 30 per cent. over the previous year.
865 kilometres of new wires were set up between various localities, and 8,000 metallic poles were imported for the purpose of extending channel system lines between Kabul and Mazar, and Kabul and Torkham and the equipment for channel system communications between Kabul and Kandahar, Kabul, Ghazni and Kalat, Kandahar and Spinboldak has been installed. An agreement has been signed with the Siemens Company for the provision of channel system equipment for communications between Kandahar, Grishk, Farah and Herat. The first storey of the automatic telephone exchange in Kandahar was completed at an expense of 1,000,000 Afghanis and work on the second storey is being continued.
The equipment for Kandahar telephone exchange was delivered and two Czechoslovak engineers and a group of Afghan technicians have commenced work on the internal wiring of Kandahar.
To meet the shortage of telephone lines for Kartachar in Kabul, a separate 200 line switchboard has been installed.
The Ministry of Communications has imported 50 tons of iron wiring, 40 automatic and battery operated switchboards with various capacities, 2,000 batteries, 1,800 telephones and a considerable amount of spare parts. The abovementioned equipment cost 2,000,000 Afghanis. New lines have been extended for 300 kilometres throughout the country and the number of new telephones in the capital and provinces has been increased by 10.5 per cent. since last year. Revenue from the telephones has increased by 10 per cent. accordingly.
In the field of radio broadcasting the Ministry of Communications succeeded in importing all the necessary equipment to install several new aerials and operate the stand-by diesel generators. This has resulted in a 50 per cent. increase in the broadcasting time of Radio Kabul, bringing it to 19½ hours per day. The Ministry's engineers found suitable frequencies to broadcast programmes for the Middle and Far East including Japan and Indonesia and are trying to find a better frequency for Europe. The Broadcasting House in Yakatoot has been completed and the studios will be completed during the coming year. The Ministry has imported 15 new amplifiers, 12 motor generators, 20 loud-speakers and a number of tape recorders, and repaired 100 old loudspeakers which are part of the public address system. The mediumwave transmitter has been repaired and the short wave transmitter has been equipped with a stand-by studio for

45


emergency purposes.
Officials of the Ministry of Com-
munications participated, during the
fourth year of the Plan, in international
conferences on telecommunications and
made points about radio administration
and frequency limitations.
During the fourth year of the Plan the
Ministry of Communications received a
number of mechanical devices from the
United Nations and the Siemens Com-
pany. The draft agreement for wireless
telephone communications between India
and Afghanistan has been prepared and
is expected to be signed soon.
The building for Kandahar Communi-
cations Directorate and the building for
the Kandahar Telephone Exchange and
Channel System, which together cost
5,000,000 Afghanis, are very nearly com-
pleted. The buildings for the Channel
system in Ghazni and Kalat have now
been completed. Construction work on
buildings for the Directorates of Com-
munications in Maimana, Kapisa, Khost,
Nangarhar, Herat, Baghlan, Kunduz,
Talukhan and Pulikhumri, which together
will cost over 12,000,000 Afghanis, is
going on.
The Ministry has taken a number of

steps in connection with the training of
personnel. A number of young men have
been sent abroad for training in special
fields and training courses in Kabul have
been flourishing. Of students sent abroad
one has returned after obtaining his
doctorate in postal regulations. Three
others have returned from Germany after
studying channel telephone communica-
tions. Two young men were sent to
Germany, two to France and one to
Czechoslovakia to study various aspects
of engineering and communications. The
training course on the channel system in
Kabul was attended by ten students who
were subsequently employed by the Tele-
phone Department. Twelve boys and
girls trained in teleprinter operation in
Kabul were also employed by the
Ministry. The Communications School
run by the Ministry has made consider-
able progress during the fourth year of
the Plan. The students in the post and
telegraph class now number 40. A group
of young men was selected to study tele-
phone lines inspection. Practical study
has been flourishing in all classes:
students are often taken out by their
teachers to see the activities of various
departments of the Ministry in process.

These two calves grazing on this picturesque slope should have a good sense of beauty.


COMMERCE

During the fourth year of the Plan, the Ministry of Commerce took a number of steps to boost internal and foreign trade, regulate the supply markets, compile statistics for export import trade and compile charts to show market fluctuations. The Ministry has also made considerable efforts to strengthen trade relations between Afghanistan and other countries and find new markets for Afghan merchandise, concentrating specially on neighbouring countries. To achieve this, the Ministry has entered into new agreements and renewed old ones with a number of countries, sent delegates and Afghan goods to international trade fairs, participated in international conferences on economic and commercial affairs, and invited delegations to Kabul from other countries to discuss trade.
On the 13th of December, 1959, an agreement on trade and scientific and technical co-operation was signed between the Royal Afghan Government and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia which established for the first time trade rela-

tions and technical co-operation between the two countries. The Trade and Payments Agreement was signed between Afghanistan and the United Arab Republic, on the 19th of April, 1960. An Afghan delegation in Prague signed a protocol for the renewal of the fifth term of the exchange of goods and payments between the two countries on the 9th February, 1960. On February 29th, 1960, an Afghan delegation signed a protocol on the fourth term of the Agreement on the Exchange of Goods and Prices between the Royal Government of Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of Poland in Warsaw. On the 4th of February, 1960, the protocol of the ninth term of the trade agreement between Afghanistan and the Soviet Union was signed by Mr. Sherzad, the Afghan Minister of Commerce and Mr. Kozinyn, the Soviet Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade.
The Ministry of Commerce participated in the International Conference on Improving Trade in South East Asia and the Far East which was convened in

Mr. Suleiman, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan and Dr. Kreutel, Chargé d'Affaires for Austria, signing the Protocol of the Air Agreement between Afghanistan and Austria.

Mr. Sherzad and Mr. Kuzmin signing the Afghan/Soviet Trade Protocol.

47


The Afghan Minister of Commerce, Mr. Sherzad, signing the Trade and Exchange of Payments Agreement with the leader of the U.A.R. delegation in Kabul.

Mr. Sherzad, Minister of Commerce at a meeting with Dr. Blum, President of the Asia Foundation.

Bangkok, at which the Afghan delegation expressed the viewpoints of Afghanistan and presented a number of proposals. Another Afghan delegation took part in the Marketing Conference held in Cairo on January 11th, 1960, and attended a

seminar on marketing. The seminar was sponsored by the F.A.O. The Second Economic Conference of Afro-Asian Countries which was sponsored by the Cairo Chamber of Commerce was also attended by an Afghan delegation in May, 1960. The agenda of this conference was concerned with proposals for establishing an Afro-Asian Economic Co-operation Board, the improvement of trade relations between participating countries and increasing foreign investments.
The Ministry of Commerce in co-operation with the Ministry of Agriculture participated in the International Fair in New Delhi which was opened on November 11th, 1959. Afghanistan's stall at this fair contained 152 different items ranging from raw materials, specimen Karakul skins, rugs of various designs and different dried fruits which attracted great attention.
The Afghan Delegation attended the French Industrial Fair in Teheran as an observer, on the 31st October, 1959. The delegation was composed of officials of the Ministries of Commerce, Agriculture, Public Health, Public Works, Mines and Industries and Communications, who made a special point of examining interesting exhibits in their own fields. In June, 1960 an Afghan delegation dis-played Afghan agricultural and industrial products at Poznan International Fair and drew the attention of many European countries.
In order to give local merchants a wider range of choice and bring about healthy competition between foreign importers, the Ministry of Commerce took a number of steps to open showrooms through trading agencies in Kabul where their goods were displayed to consumers as well as traders. The showrooms opened so far are those of Poland, Italy and Austria. It is strongly hoped that others will follow suit.
In order to solve a number of problems in connection with Afghan goods in transit in Pakistan the Ministry of Commerce

48