Finance Minister Eklil Hakimi has said the “One Belt One Road” project – which is a new draft by China – is important for Afghanistan and the region.

“Roads, railways, energy, transportation and people to people connectivity and also facilitation for trade and transit play a constructive role. We have already aligned most of our domestic plans according to One Belt One Road initiative,” he said at the BOAO Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2017 in China this week.

Meanwhile, officials from the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ACCI) said the project will connect the northern parts of the country with western Afghanistan.

“The project will have great importance for us if government takes action to build infrastructure and makes better use of opportunities provided by the project,” the ACCI’s CEO Abdul Qadir Bahman said.

The primary investment for the One Belt One Road project has been estimated at more than $40 billion USD.