The first meeting of the tripartite working group on the implementation of the Mazar-i-Sharif-Kabul-Peshawar railway project was held in Tashkent on 2 February, the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade reported.
Representatives of international financial institutions also made remarks at the meeting, emphasizing the strategic importance of the project and their readiness to participate in its implementation.
At the same time, they noted that it is necessary to ensure quality preparation of pre-project documents and conduct a thorough scientific and economic analysis. This is explained by the complexity of the project as most of the railway route passes through mountainous areas.
The meeting was attended by the Vice President of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank Konstantin Limitovsky, the Vice President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Alain Pilloux, the Vice President of the Islamic Development Bank Mansur Mukhtar, the Regional Director for Central Asia of the World Bank Lilia Burunchuk, the Director General of the Asian Development Bank, Evgeny Zhukov and the Advisor to the President of the European Investment Bank Flavia Palanza.
Earlier, it was reported that Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan had approved the project of the Trans-Afghan railway between Pakistan and Uzbekistan, with the parties filing requests for loans from international financial institutions.
According to the Adviser to the Prime Minister of Pakistan Razzaq Dawood, the PM Imran Khan sent a letter on December 29, 2020 requesting a loan from international organizations to launch the project.
Earlier, Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade Sardor Umurzakov said that the implementation of the Mazar-i-Sharif-Kabul-Peshawar railway project would be a "new era and the most important event" for the three countries in the 21st century.
