Uzbek president urges investors to take part in building Trans-Afghan Transport Corridor

TASHKENT. May 2 (Interfax) - Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, speaking at the Tashkent Investment Forum on Thursday, invited investors to take part in major regional projects in the transport sector, including the construction of the Trans-Afghan Railroad.

"As you know, we have launched the construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan and Uzbekistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan railroads together with foreign partners. These strategic projects will radically change the geo-economic situation in the region, turning Central Asia into a global transit center connecting the North and the South, the East and the West. We are inviting investors and international organizations to take part in these major regional projects and revive the Great Silk Road on a modern basis," Mirziyoyev said.

The new Trans-Afghan Transport Corridor will link the European Union, Russia, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and further Southeast Asian countries.

The 647-kilometer-long Afghan part of the project starts in Mazar-e-Sharif, passes through Samangan, Baghlan, Bamiyan, Maidan Wardag, Logar and Paktia provinces, and connects to Pakistan in the Dande-Patan district of Paktia province.