World Bank - The Times Of Central Asia

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Finance Banking Healthcare World Bank IMF IDB Public health

IDB to Fund $156.3 Million for Cancer Hospitals in Turkmenistan

Turkmenportal reported that a Turkmenistan delegation visited Washington DC from October 22 to 26 to participate in the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, along with related events. During the visit, representatives of Turkmenistan's financial and banking sector engaged in bilateral discussions with foreign partners. According to the Saudi Press Agency, the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has approved $156.3 million in funding to build three specialized cancer treatment hospitals in Turkmenistan. These modern facilities will be located in Balkanabad, Turkmenabad, and Mari, with a combined capacity to serve over 11,750 patients. The agreement was signed in a meeting between IDB President Muhammad Al Jasser and Rahimberdi Jepbarov, Chairman of the State Bank for Foreign Economic Affairs of Turkmenistan. Meanwhile, on October 24, Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche, in partnership with Nobel Almaty Pharmaceutical Factory, launched the production of innovative drugs in Almaty, Kazakhstan. This initiative is part of an agreement between Roche, Kazakhstan’s SK-Pharmacy, Nobel, and the Kazakh Research Institute of Oncology and Radiology, supported by Kazakh Invest. Under this collaboration, Roche will locally produce three biotechnological drugs to treat HER2-positive breast cancer, a highly aggressive form affecting up to 20% of breast cancer patients in Kazakhstan.

Environment World Bank Environmental Awareness Rogun HPP Energy Security

Rogun HPP Faces Criticism for Violating World Bank Standards

The international environmental coalition Rivers without Boundaries has released a report titled “Rogun Hydroelectric Power Plant Project: Non-Compliance Report with World Bank Requirements.” Outlining how the Rogun HPP in Tajikistan fails to meet the World Bank’s environmental and social standards, the report highlights violations in six key areas: environmental assessment, biodiversity protection, resource efficiency, dam safety, public participation, and forced displacement. It also highlights non-compliance with the bank’s policies on financing investment projects. The report’s authors point out that the situation worsened as a result of the World Bank taking responsibility for developing environmental and social safeguards for the Rogun HPP project on behalf of all financiers, including major banks like the AIIB, ADB, and EIB. In accepting this move, these institutions have effectively treated the World Bank's standards as their own. Therefore, if these standards are violated, the standards of other financial institutions are also breached. “We are convinced that the presented version of the Rogun HPP project does not comply with the social and environmental principles of the World Bank and should not be financed by international development banks in its current form,” said Evgeny Simonov, coordinator of the international environmental coalition 'Rivers Without Borders.' “Due to non-compliance with banking standards and procedures, the project includes many ineffective and risky elements that could lead to serious environmental and social damage during its implementation.” The report was created under the international Rogun Alert initiative, which represents environmental organizations worldwide. Last week, it was sent to all international development banks involved in the Rogun project. On October 23, an open letter signed by 124 public organizations, including Rivers Without Borders, highlighting the risks of financing large dam projects, including Rogun, will be presented to the World Bank management. According to the source, urgent international public consultations on the environmental and social impact of the construction of the Rogun HPP on the basin countries are planned for October 28 of this year.

statistics Finance Economy World Bank GDP Economic Growth

Decrease Expected in Central Asia’s Economic Growth

According to the World Bank, economic growth in Europe and Central Asia (ECA) is expected to slow to 3.3% this year, down from 3.5% in 2023. This is much lower than the average growth of 4.1% seen between 2000 and 2019, and is not enough for many of the region's middle-income countries to become high-income. Growth in the region has mainly been driven by an increase in people's spending, rising wages, and government policies, while demand from outside the area, especially from the EU, remains weak. Although the average yearly inflation rate had dropped to 3.6% by August 2024, from 4.6% at the end of last year, it is still higher than the 2.7% average seen in 2018-2019. Prices of goods have grown more slowly in most countries, but prices for services remain high because of rising labor costs. Some central banks have lowered interest rates as inflation has slowed, but are cautious. Government spending has not been reduced in most of the region's countries and indeed, has dramatically increased, especially on public wages, pensions, social benefits, and defense. The economies of Central Asia are expected to grow by 4.3% in 2024; slower than the 5.6% growth seen last year. In Kazakhstan, growth is predicted to slow to 3.4%, down from 5.1% in 2023, mainly because the expansion of the Tengiz oil field is taking longer, and the government is spending less. For other Central Asian countries, growth estimates have been raised by an average of nearly one percentage due to increased consumer spending, more government spending, and ongoing support from money sent home by workers in Russia and trade with Russia. However, despite these improvements, the growth per capita GDP (the average income per person) in Central Asia is only expected to be 2.7% this year, making it the slowest in the region, apart fromTurkey. The Central Asian sub region, with growth expected at 5%, will outpace all other sub regions in 2025. This is driven primarily by renewed strong growth in Kazakhstan amid rising oil production. However, growth in the rest of Central Asia is projected to slow as trading and remittance flows from Russia normalize. The lowest median consumer price growth rate was recorded in the South Caucasus, at 1.5% year-on-year in August 2024. In contrast, Central Asia had the highest median consumer price inflation rate, at 6.1%. This rate reflects 10% inflation in Uzbekistan, driven by removing energy subsidies in May 2024.

Finance World Bank Environmental Awareness Ecology Air Pollution WHO

New Report From World Bank Condemns Tashkent Air Quality

A new World Bank report entitled "Air Quality Assessment for Tashkent and the Roadmap for Air Quality Management Improvement in Uzbekistan" gives a frightening assessment of the air quality in the country’s capital. The report finds that ambient PM2.5 concentrations in Tashkent, which peak in winter, substantially exceed international air quality standards. The annual average concentration exceeds six times the WHO’s average yearly guideline of 5 µg/m3. In Tashkent, PM2.5 ambient air pollution has considerable health and economic costs. It can be linked to health costs equivalent to 0.7% of Uzbekistan’s gross domestic product (GDP). Most air quality-related diseases and premature deaths in Uzbekistan and worldwide are linked to PM2.5, which the World Health Organization (WHO) has identified as the pollutant with the gravest health risk. According to IQAir, Tashkent, like other Central Asian cities, frequently ranks among the world's most polluted urban areas. According to the report, the primary sources of human-caused PM2.5 pollution in Tashkent are the heating (28%), transport (16%), and industrial sectors (13%). Cross-boundary sources like windblown dust (36% PM2.5 pollution) dominate in the summer, while commercial and residential heating is the primary source of PM2.5 pollution in the winter. The report’s AQM roadmap for Uzbekistan formulates priority actions such as updating air quality standards and legislation, developing a national AQM strategy and coordination mechanism, and taking measures in the industrial, transport, and heating sectors, which are most responsible for air pollution. The AQM roadmap recommends investments in emission reduction measures. The roadmap suggests that emissions from the heating sector can be reduced by improving the quality of fuels used and the efficiency of heating appliances, implementing energy efficiency measures, and switching to cleaner heating alternatives. At a government meeting on October 9, Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev reviewed a draft master plan for the city of Tashkent until 2045. Today the population of Tashkent is more than 3 million people, and it keeps growing. Over the past ten years, the average air temperature in Tashkent has increased by 1 degree Celsius. The number of cars is rising, and traffic is becoming increasingly congested. The new master plan takes these aspects into account. It plans to increase green areas in Tashkent and its suburbs threefold to 25,000 hectares, which will increase per capita green area from the current 3 to 6 square meters. Mirziyoyev emphasized the need to turn Tashkent into a city where at least 7.5 million people can live and work.

World Bank Economic Reforms Market economy Banking Finance

World Bank Allocates $800 Million to Support Uzbekistan’s Market Economy Transition

The World Bank has allocated $800 million to accelerate Uzbekistan's transition to an inclusive and stable market economy. The government’s reform program, supported by the World Bank, aims to improve Uzbekistan’s business environment, increase agriculture, railways, and energy efficiency, improve public finance management, expand social services, and enhance readiness for environmental risks. Finance provided by the World Bank through highly concessional loans, is reported to offer the government low-cost, long-term repayment options "more favorable than those available in international financial markets." The financial package aims to achieve concrete results in the social protection system, combating gender-based violence, land security for farmers, business environment, public finance management, tackling climate change, water resource management, and environmental and climate assessment. It also includes reforming climate-sensitive investment in the railway and energy sectors. Uzbekistan has received $100 million from the World Bank in May to develop social protections. On 21 June, it was announced that Uzbekistan is the first country worldwide to receive payment from the World Bank for reducing carbon emissions through a policy crediting program and to date, has been awarded a $7.5 million grant for cutting 500,000 tons of carbon emissions.

Rogun HPP HPP World Bank Banking Energy Finance

Tajikistan Raises Over a Billion Dollars More for Rogun Hydropower Plant

Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, speaking at a meeting with the constructors of the Rogun hydropower plant, said that negotiations with the World Bank for a $650 million grant -- and with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank for a $500 million loan -- are in their final stages. Earlier, agreements on preferential lending were signed with the Islamic Development Bank for $150 million and the Saudi Fund for Development for $100 million. In addition, Arab development funds, such as the OPEC Fund, Kuwait Fund, and Abu Dhabi Fund, have already decided to allocate an additional $100 million. Negotiations are underway with the Asian Development Bank and the European Investment Bank to attract grants and preferential loans. Rahmon noted that from 2008 to 2024, more than 42.5 billion somoni (about $3.8 billion) from the state budget and other sources were allocated to construct the hydropower plant. He emphasized that Rogun is a crucial facility that ensures the country's energy independence and economic development. According to him, 7.5 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity have been produced since the launch of the first two units in 2018. More than 17,000 workers and engineers are currently employed in the plant's construction, and their number continues to grow. Rahmon also noted the need for strict adherence to the work schedule. The installation of the next hydro unit is planned for the fall of 2026. The Rogun hydropower plant is located 110 kilometers east of Dushanbe, and is one of Central Asia's largest and most strategically important hydropower projects. Once completed, it will be the highest dam in the world, at 335 meters. Construction of the project began in 1976 but was suspended after the collapse of the USSR. Work resumed in 2016, and two turbines are producing electricity. In the future, the hydropower plant will have six turbines with a total capacity of 3,600 MW. Once completed, it will generate 17.1 TWh of electricity per year. The project also addresses water supply issues; the reservoir will irrigate 300,000 hectares of land and reduce sedimentation at the downstream Nurek HPP. Part of the energy is planned to be exported to neighboring countries.