KABUL –Afghan Minister for Foreign Affairs Hekmat Karzai has said that Afghanistan is a strategic hub along the ancient Silk Road as it connects trade and investment through the east and west civilisations. He was addressing a seminar – “One Belt One Road” jointly organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan and the Chinese Embassy – here in the Afghan capital.The seminar highlighted the opportunity of boosting connectivity and development along the ancient trade route. InAfghanistan, implementing the One Belt One Road initiativewould require innovative cooperation, a strengthened communication of policies, transportation, trade, currencies and public investment, the minister said. He also said that implementing the initiative could also help reduce the conflict in the region and promote peace and prosperity in Afghanistan. Addressingthe seminar, Chinese Ambassador to Afghanistan Yao Jing said that the belt and road initiative aims at integrating development strategies between China and other participating countries in order to facilitate trade and investment and boost growth by bringing both the people and country close together. He said that China would like to cooperate with Afghanistan on the implementation of the belt and road initiative in various fields, including policy coordination, connectivity, trade, financial integration and people-to-people exchanges.