Wahidullah Shahrani, in London to promote opportunities for foreign investors, told BBC radio that Kabul had taken steps to clean up its reputation for corruption.
Under new legislation Kabul will “make sure whatever will be the revenue from the mining operations, it will be collected in a very transparent manner, and they will be allocated through normal budgetary procedures,” he added.
A recent study by US geologists found Afghanistan had reserves of valuable minerals worth up to $1 trillion.
Former mines minister Mohammad Ibrahim Adel was dropped from the cabinet in February after US media reports that he accepted as much as $20 million to give a copper mine contract.
But his successor Shahrani said on Friday: “There are some allegations that have been published in the media. But we have not been able to come up with any evidence.”
Published in The Express Tribune ,June 26th, 2010.
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