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KABUL (TCA) — The Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Board of Directors has endorsed a new 5-year country partnership strategy (CPS) to establish a stronger foundation for sustainable growth and poverty reduction in Afghanistan, the Bank said on October 31. Continue reading
DUSHANBE (TCA) — On October 27, the 16th Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Ministerial Conference was held in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Tajik President Emomali Rahmon made the keynote address. Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Takehiko Nakao made the special address. The meeting was chaired by Minister of Economic Development and Trade Nematullo Khikmatullozoda. CAREC Ministers from 11 member countries unanimously endorsed CAREC 2030, a new long-term strategy that will take the CAREC program to its third decade of operations, ADB said. The 11 members of CAREC are Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The strategy is anchored on the mission to connect people, policies, and projects. It envisages scaling up and broadening CAREC’s mandate, including supporting regional economic and financial stability, and regional initiatives in the areas of tourism, agriculture and water resources, and health and education. At the same time, CAREC will maintain focus and its comparative advantage in the existing priority areas of transport, energy, trade, and economic corridors development. Adoption of the CAREC 2030 strategy will also help countries in the region achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and climate change targets under the Paris agreement, while aligning with national development priorities. In his speech, Mr. Nakao announced that ADB will commit more than $5 billion to supporting CAREC 2030 in the next 5 years. This is about a quarter of the total ADB financing for projects in CAREC countries except the People’s Republic of China. As part of ADB’s commitment, it has just approved a new $800 million Multi-Tranche Financing Facility for CAREC road corridor development in Pakistan. Next year, ADB will finance the first phase of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP) transmission line project for $150 million. ADB has already begun discussions for regional projects in the areas of agribusiness, tourism, and railways covered in CAREC 2030. ADB functions as the secretariat of the CAREC program. Cumulatively, the CAREC program has mobilized more than $30 billion of investments since it was set up in 2001. Over a third of this amount, or $10.5 billion, has been financed by ADB, and the rest by member governments and other development partners. To date, CAREC financing has been used to build or rehabilitate 8,592 kilometers (km) of road and more than 5,103 km of rail across 6 transport corridors, strengthening connectivity and trade within and outside the region. Over 9,041 km of power transmission lines have been constructed, supporting the expansion of energy trade between energy surplus Central Asian countries and energy deficit countries in South Asia, including Afghanistan and Pakistan. Besides investments through projects, CAREC has contributed to trade facilitation, and capacity building and knowledge generation and sharing across CAREC countries. The CAREC Institute which is spearheading knowledge efforts is now operating as an intergovernmental organization. In a joint statement titled the “Dushanbe Declaration,” CAREC Ministers highlighted that regional cooperation has become even more critical to meet their development goals. Ministers stressed the need to engage with the private sector, civil society, development...
ASTANA (TCA) — The Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Board of Directors has endorsed a new country partnership strategy (CPS) for Kazakhstan, expected to deliver more than $3 billion in assistance through 2021 to help the country diversify its economy, achieve inclusive development, and promote sustainable growth, ADB’s country office said on September 18. Continue reading
URUMQI (TCA) — Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Takehiko Nakao on September 7 participated in the inaugural ceremony of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Institute, together with more than 100 participants from CAREC member countries and development partner organizations. In his speech, Mr. Nakao expressed confidence in the important role the new intergovernmental organization would play in the development of the CAREC program, as regional cooperation efforts among member countries enter a new phase, ADB said in a news release. Continue reading
TASHKENT (TCA) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Uzbekistan’s Invest Finance Bank (InFin Bank) on July 5 signed an agreement enabling cooperation to support trade in Uzbekistan through ADB’s Trade Finance Program (TFP), ADB’s country office said. Continue reading
ASTANA (TCA) — Asian Development Bank (ADB) Vice-President Wencai Zhang, on a 4-day visit to Kazakhstan, has held talks with senior officials of the Government of Kazakhstan about ADB’s new 2017-21 Country Partnership Strategy. Mr. Zhang has also attended several sessions of the Astana Economic Forum on regional cooperation and integration, and Kazakhstan’s development perspectives. On 15 June, he co-chaired the brainstorming session on the new Central Asian Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) 2030 Strategy, ADB’s country office in Kazakhstan said. Continue reading
