A landmark regional economic development meeting began in Afghanistan on Sunday, uniting ministers from 10 nations for what is the first international conference for two decades in the war-scarred nation.
The two-day Economic Co-operation Organisation meeting to boost trade ties was held amid heavy security here at a time when several parts of the country remain troubled by violence and unrest.
Some 5,000 international peacekeepers, backed by newly-trained Afghan army troops, were deployed to safeguard delegates from Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
Opening the conference, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said the meeting marked a major step forward for Afghanistan, and highlighted the poverty-stricken country's role in cementing new prosperity for the region.
"Our country has a great history of trade. Afghanistan has been the crossroads of the regional and international trade for hundreds of years," he said, recalling the country's Silk Road past as "the crossroads of civilisation".
"We do all we can to open up our borders and to renew our infrastructure to become again a nation which is facilitating trade at the service of its neighbours. If ECO will become stronger and stronger, the Silk Road will be revived and will be again a key factor for prosperity in all our countries," Karzai said.
ECO member countries have a combined population of more than 300 million and boast rich gas and oil resources.
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