An international donors' conference raised more than 21 billion US dollars in Paris on Thursday to support Afghanistan's five-year development plan, meeting expectations of the Afghan government.
When announcing the figure at the end of the conference, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner described the result as "a success because we were expecting in our dreams 17 billion dollars".
France's President Nicolas Sarkozy (2nd L) poses with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (2nd R), Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai (L) and Aga Khan at the start of the international conference in support of Afghanistan at Kleber International Centre in Paris June 12, 2008. Ministers from dozens of countries gathered in Paris to pledge funds for Afghanistan and review their development strategy for the violence-plagued state.(Xinhua Photo)
The tally met the goal of the Afghan government, which hoped for 15 billion to 20 billion dollars from the one-day conference, which brought together ministers and high-level officials from more than 80 countries and international organizations.
