The global integration of Central and South Asia is intertwined with Peshawar-Kabul corridor. The roadway between Peshawar and Kabul through the Khyber Pass has served as the key node in trade between Afghanistan, Central Asia, and South Asia for centuries. Today, the roadway represents the key route through which goods are transported not just between Afghanistan and the Central Asian Republics (CARs) and Pakistan, but also between Afghanistan, the CARs, and the rest of the world through Pakistan’s deep-sea ports. Improving the efficiency of the Peshawar-Kabul corridor is therefore a key step in improving integration of South and Central Asia and increasing the access of producers and consumers in Central Asia to global markets. The proposed expressway is an extension of the Karachi-Lahore-Islamabad-Peshawar Trans-Pakistan Expressway System as well as part of the Peshawar-Kabul-Dushanbe Motorway.

The Government of Pakistan through National Highway Authority (NHA) has launched construction of a modern, high speed, access-controlled transport corridor linking Peshawar, Islamabad, and Karachi. The on-going construction of the Pakistan China Economic Corridor (CPEC) – the intervention in road, rail, fiber-optic cables, and oil and gas pipelines linking the seaports of Gwadar and Karachi to Xinjiang – will improve the quality of infrastructure linking major cities in Pakistan to western China and the Indian Ocean. This is a key activity of Pillar-VII of the Government of Pakistan’s Vision 2025 document is development of road infrastructure through China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and associated investments. The Joint Economic Commission (JEC) headed by the finance ministers of Afghanistan and Pakistan has endorsed an enhanced motorway between Kabul and Peshawar as a cornerstone of regional integration. Development of the Khyber Pass Economic Corridor would benefit consumers, producers, and traders along the Khyber Pass from reductions in transit costs and times for goods and from investments in private sector development.