Afghanistan seeks to realize dream of 'New Silk Road'

By Shadi Khan Saif

KABUL, Afghanistan

Afghanistan's government reiterated its call to regional neighbors to help it become a trading hub for Asia at a regional meeting held in Kabul on Thursday. 

More than 30 countries have attended the two-day Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan (RECCA) meeting in Kabul, to discuss how to rebuild the country's economy after decades of violent conflict. 

Deputy Foreign Minister Hekmat Khalil Karzai launched the conference, which centered around President Ashraf Ghani's call to build a "New Silk Road" through Afghanistan, saying his country was well aware of the political sensitivities that would have to be overcome.

"Political will and political discords are immensely influential variables in our shared attempt to build greater regional integration," he noted.

Since taking office last year, former World Bank economist Ghani has used regional visits to aggressively promote his vision to rebuild Afghanistan's economy by making it an "Asian roundabout" for the movement of goods and people between South and Central Asia, harking back to Afghanistan's pre-colonial history. 

The plan also tied in with China's investment and infrastructure projects along the historical trading routes known collectively as the Silk Road. 

Karzai told attendees about four regional resource and trade corridors being worked towards that could improve regional economic integration. 

"India is constructing a corridor from the [Iranian] Port of Chabahar through Afghanistan, China is constructing a corridor from Xinjiang all the way to the Port of Gwadar. Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey are moving on constructing a transport corridor connecting all of them. And China, Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan are doing the same with a railway corridor. All these partners are here at RECCA," he said.

Economy Minister Abdul Sattar Murad said Afghanistan's regional partners shared common concerns which could be eased by identifying specific projects, especially in regional trade and energy. 

He added that Afghanistan needed to diversify its economy as the amount of foreign aid spent in the country decreased along with the shrinking foreign military presence. 

"The economic future of Afghanistan and our regional partners depends on trade, transit and the expansion of the energy sector and extraction of mineral deposits," he said.

While ministers will meet Friday, the first day of the conference focused on academic and business forums on how to expand regional cooperation in areas of trade, transport, energy and resource corridors, streamlining border crossings and attracting investment, according to the Afghan Foreign Ministry.