The United States officials have praised the Delhi Investment Summit on Afghanistan that aimed at encouraging more private investment to flow into the warn-torn country and boost its economy.

Describing the summit as "an excellent initiative", the officials pointed out that, more than a dozen American companies will participate in the summit. US state department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said that US companies including companies like DuPont, PricewaterhouseCoopers, General Electric, ExxonMobil will be at the summit to explore investment opportunities in the country.

"So we think this is an excellent initiative to strengthen private sector investment, to strengthen regional links, and shows great leadership on the Indian Government's part," she said. She also said that the US government had encouraged US firms that are interested in investing in the country to participate in the event hosted in the Indian capital.

The ways to improve foreign private sector investment will be discussed at the conference. It will one of the first conferences on Afghanistan since 2001 to he hosted by India, which has already pledged more than $2 billion for development related works in the country.

The conference will include 50 Afghan firms and this will improve business-to-business interaction between them and international firms from various countries. About 40 countries, including Iran, China and Pakistan will participate in the event.

The conference in New Delhi will offer basis for formation of strategies for economic development of Afghanistan during a Government summit in Tokyo that is scheduled for July 8.