PESHAWAR, Jan 24: NWFP Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah has said that with the restoration of complete peace and normalcy in Afghanistan a major breakthrough in economic development is expected to take place in the region , which will greatly benefit land-locked Central Asian states.

He was talking at the Governor House here on Saturday to a 33-member group of participants of the 12th special diplomatic course for Central Asian Republics and 15th advance diplomatic course for Mid-Career African Diplomats currently undergoing at Foreign Services Academy in Islamabad.

The governor said: "There exists a great number of similarities from cultural and historic point of view between the people of this region and of the Central Asian states and it would definitely further cement the relations."

In fact, he added, before the Russian invasion of Afghanistan a lot of trade used to take place in the area. Though the province, he remarked, was situated at a long distance from the seaport and faced location disadvantage, in case of normalization of circumstances this would turn into advantageous one.

In reply to a question from the participants, the governor said the people of the province welcomed Afghan refugees who were forced to leave their homes because of foreign invasion and about 3.1 million refugees stayed in the province and other parts of the country for about two decades.

However, he added, with the withdrawal of foreign assistance in 1996, "we are looking after them with our own resources."

Though, he observed, with the withdrawal of Russian forces from that country, a sudden change was noted and the refugees started going back, but after 9/11 another influx was expected which luckily did not happen. Yet, he said, a large number of refugees were still living in Pakistan, especially in the province, who were freely indulging in trade and economic activities.

Responding to a point regarding financial health of the province, the governor said this was a food-deficit province and had to depend upon imports from other parts of the country to meet its requirements. Despite having vast tract of land, he said, it remained unable to utilize that mainly due to the lack of resources.

However, he said, concrete initiative had been taken during the last three years to tap water resources and work on the construction of two major dams as well as a large number of small water reservoirs had been started.

The governor also dilated upon the administrative setup of the tribal areas with reference to historical perspective, and said a great change was being witnessed in the people's outlook towards their social uplift.

Now, he added, establishment of educational institutions as well as upgradation of infrastructure and other related facilities in this connection was their major demand.