His Excellency President Hamid Karzai
Visits Washington DC
Embassy of Afghanistan
05/20/2005
Washington, D.C. – President Hamid Karzai
will visit the United States during May 21-25, 2005. He will
hold bilateral talks with President George W. Bush on May 23.
They will mainly discuss US-Afghan strategic partnership as
a bilateral objective to enhance cooperation in reconstruction,
security, and military matters. President Karzai will also meet
with members of the US Congress including House Speaker Representative
Dennis Hastert, Majority Leader Senator Bill Frist, Senator
Richard Lugar, Senator Joseph Biden, Senator Edward Kennedy,
Senator Charles Hagel, Representative Jerry Lewis, and Representative
Jim Kolbe. They will discuss the US-Afghan strategic partnership
and review progress in the global war on terror, Afghanistan’s
democratic achievements, and ongoing cooperation on a range
of bilateral, regional and international issues.
On May 16, twelve members of the United States
Congress introduced a concurrent resolution welcoming President
Karzai to visit the US in May 2005 and expressing support for
a strong and enduring strategic partnership between the United
States and Afghanistan. The resolution states: “It is
the sense of Congress that— (A) a democratic, stable,
and prosperous Afghanistan is a vital security interest of the
United States; and (B) a strong and enduring strategic partnership
between the United States and Afghanistan should continue to
be a primary objective of both countries to advance a shared
vision of peace, freedom, security, and broad-based economic
development between the two countries and throughout the world.”
President Karzai will also meet with a group of
35 private investors in a business and investment roundtable
co-hosted by the US Department of Commerce and the Embassy of
Afghanistan on May 24. The President will discuss with the private
sector Afghanistan’s business environment and encourage
them to invest in the country with numerous profitable markets.
During his landmark visit, President Karzai will
receive honorary doctorate degrees from Boston University and
University of Nebraska at Omaha. The two Universities confer
upon the President the honorary degrees in recognition of his
national and international endeavors for peace and democracy
in Afghanistan and security and cooperation in the world. Under
the leadership of President Karzai, Afghanistan has come a long
way over the past three years, achieving major goals of the
Bonn Agreement with assistance of the international community.
The President will meet with senior local government officials
of Boston and Nebraska and seek their cooperation in helping
rebuild Afghanistan.
President Karzai becomes Afghanistan’s first
democratically elected leader to visit the United States this
May.
# # #
Contact:
M. Ashraf Haidari
(202) 483-6410, (Ex-811)
Haidari@embassyofafghanistan.org
