The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved $330m in grant financing to support the completion of the construction of national Ring Road in Afghanistan.

The financing will be used to construct the final 151km section of the 2,200km Ring Road connecting the towns of Qaisar and Dari Bum in north-western Afghanistan.

In addition to connecting major cities within Afghanistan, Ring Road serves as an important corridor under the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) programme.

ADB Central and West Asia Department director-general Sean O’Sullivan said: “Afghanistan’s Ring Road is an essential piece of infrastructure which will help connect the country internally, as well as with its neighbours in Central Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East.

“Afghanistan’s Ring Road is an essential piece of infrastructure which will help connect the country internally, as well as with its neighbours in Central Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East.”

“ADB’s support for the final stage of the Ring Road will integrate lessons learned in provisioning infrastructure in a fragile environment, while also creating jobs, improving trade, and bringing greater security.”

The new road will be designed to incorporate disaster risk and climate change adaptation features and will be equipped with the latest drainage and modern highway safety systems.

Additional roadside infrastructure facilities such as rural access roads and a community development programme for 60 local communities will also be undertaken.

Since 2002, ADB has reconstructed more than 800km of roads in Afghanistan.

Its total assistance to building the country’s infrastructure, including roads, railways and airports amounts to more than $1.7bn.