Ministers will pledge funds for Afghanistan and review their development strategy for the Central Asian state at a donors conference that got under way in Paris today.
More than six years after US-led forces ousted the Taliban regime, corruption is rife, the drug trade is thriving and attacks occur daily in Afghanistan, one of the world's poorest nations.
Afghanistan's government is asking the ministers and other delegates from 67 countries to fund a $50 billion five-year development plan, for which donors will demand that Kabul do more to fight graft which has deterred investment.
"It is the duty of all democrats to help you," French President Nicolas Sarkozy told his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai in his opening speech, adding that France would "maintain its effort in Afghanistan as long as necessary".
More than 15 international organisations also took part in the conference opened by Mr Sarkozy, Mr Karzai and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Donors are not expected to pledge a full $50 billion, but the conference is intended to be a show of support for Afghanistan after a Nato summit in April examined military strategy for the more than 50,000 foreign troops stationed there.
The United States will pledge about $10 billion over around two years, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said as she flew to the Paris meeting.
The World Bank's envoy said it would provide around $1.1 billion over five years, and a foreign ministry spokesman said Japan would offer an extra $550 million.
Afghanistan depends on aid for 90 per cent of its spending. But international donors have fallen behind in paying what they have already pledged, and much of the money goes straight back to donor countries in salaries, purchase of goods and profits.
The lag in aid is partly due to concerns about corruption. Of the $25 billion pledged for Afghanistan from 2001 until now, only around $15 billion has been spent, aid agencies say.
Envoys are expected to pledge to improve co-ordination of an aid effort often criticised as chaotic and inefficient. The conference is also expected to reinforce the authority of the UN's special envoy for Afghanistan, Kai Eide.