Agreements have now been made between eight countries for the US$18 billion Silk Road project in Central Asia. This project is seen as crucial for the development of the countries involved, providing a vital road link between Asia and Europe that will encourage economic development and trade. The plan was agreed at a meeting in Dushanbe, Tajikistan and was attended by ministers from Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, People’s Republic of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The project is being supported by the Asian Development Band (ADB), which helped organise the meeting while five other multilateral institutions are also involved. The Silk Road project is regarded as being vital to the development of many nations At present less than 1% of all trade between Europe and Asia currently goes through Central Asia. Poor transport infrastructure and cumbersome border processes have resulted in nearly all trade going by sea but the new road link will provide a land bridge that will allow significant reductions in transport costs for many types of goods, boosting trade. The plan also calls for the improvement of border crossings to speed trade, with customs and immigration procedures being improved to tackle the bottlenecks these provide for trade at present. Historically, Central Asia was served by multiple routes linking east and west, known as the Silk Road and dating back more than 2,000 years. It was an important economic artery that stretched more than 10,000km, from the Mediterranean to China''s Yellow River Valley.