Belt & Road a way back to prosperity for Afghanistan

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For war-torn countries like Afghanistan, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) offers not only trade and investment but the stability that often comes with an economic boost.

Earlier this month, President Xi Jinping met Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in Kazakhstan, promising that China will continue playing a role in supporting Afghanistan's reconstruction.

Mohammad Qayoumi, Ashraf Ghani’s chief adviser on infrastructure and technology, told CGTN’s World Insight that he believes the Belt and Road can really help the economic development of Afghanistan.

“Unlike some of other events of the past several hundred years, the Belt and Road has been a framework of peace, of how regions can develop,” Qayoumi said. “The vision that has been created by China is so unique and could really be transformational for the developing Eurasian economy in a way that has not been done before.”

Afghanistan is along a corridor linking Central Asia with South Asia. Qayoumi said that this location gives Afghanistan huge potential to cooperate with China under the BRI.

“We can serve (as) a very unique role in the movement of goods, movement of energy and movement of data,” he said, citing Afghanistan’s abundant clean energy resources including hydropower, wind and solar.