New Silk Road Initiative Moving Forward

For the last several months, I have been working on a project identifying infrastructure improvements that are being supported by international financial institutions and as part of bi-lateral development support. I have been absolutely amazed how much effort is being engaged to promote trade and commercial development in south and central Asia.

Dr Frederick Starr of John Hopkins University recently said, "The Silk Road Strategy is a comprehensive strategy for achieving security and sustainable economic development in Afghanistan and Greater Central Asia, of which Afghanistan is the heart. The Silk Road Strategy seeks to reestablish continental corridors for the transport of goods and energy to connect Europe, the Indian sub-continent and Southeast Asia. Afghanistan is the pivot and, till now, the missing link in such a Eurasian network. Working with governments and international financial institutions, the U.S. seeks to remove trade barriers".

US Secretary of State Clinton has said, "...someday, that entrepreneur here in Chennai should be able to put her products on a track – on a truck or a train that travels unimpeded, quickly, and cheaply through Pakistan, through Afghanistan, to the doorstep of her customer in Kazakhstan. A Pakistani businessman should be able to open a branch in Bangalore. An Afghan farmer should be able to sell pomegranates in Islamabad before he drives on to New Delhi. Or as Prime Minister Singh put it so beautifully, “I dream of a day, while retaining our respective identities, one can have breakfast in Amritsar, lunch in Lahore, and dinner in Kabul. That is how my forefathers lived. That is how I want our grandchildren to live.”

I would like to establish a NEW SILK ROAD group on this platform, and invite interested members to discuss how to make the vision into a reality that creates jobs and bring wealth to families all over South and Central Asia. Are there World Pulse members interested in participating in this type of group discussion?