The Kabul Tribune (KT) — Afghanistan’s central bank said commercial banks will invest about 55 billion Afghanis ($850 million) in the construction of a 657-kilometer railway linking the western city of Herat with Mazar-e-Sharif in northern Afghanistan.
The bank said in a statement Sunday, Aug. 2, that the investment was among the key issues discussed during the past Islamic calendar year and would be carried out through a joint mechanism involving the central bank, the Ministry of Finance and the Taliban’s economic office, with the participation of commercial banks.
According to the statement, once the mechanism is finalized, the investment will be ready for implementation.
The proposed Herat-Mazar-e-Sharif railway would run from Herat to Mazar-e-Sharif and is expected to strengthen trade and transit links between western and northern Afghanistan.
The central bank said the project would serve not only as an important economic corridor for Afghanistan but could also help connect Iran and Türkiye with Central Asian countries and China through Afghanistan.
The railway is considered a key project for expanding trade and transit links between northern and western Afghanistan. Its construction would facilitate the movement of goods from western provinces toward the north and further integrate Afghanistan into regional railway and trade corridors.
