KAZAN, June 10. /TASS/. Afghanistan is grateful to Russia for its efforts to improve the quality of education and calls for expanding cooperation in this sphere, acting Afghan Minister of Higher Education Neda Mohammad Nadeem said at the 2nd "Shaping the Future" international forum of education ministers.

"First of all, let me, on behalf of myself and the people of Afghanistan, thank the organizers of this important conference and distinguished Russian Minister of Education [Sergey Kravtsov] for their efforts to improve the quality of education," he said. "We are ready to cooperate with the entire world, Russia and friendly countries in the education field. We in Afghanistan have achievements in this area," the minister added.

He noted that the decades of war in Afghanistan had severely affected the country's education system. Neda Mohammad Nadeem added that its restoration requires international efforts. In this regard, Kabul proposes to establish interaction between Afghan and foreign universities.

Earlier, representatives of the Taliban (Taliban movement, banned in Russia) visited the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), which was held on June 5-8.