DUSHANBE, February 25, 2013, Asia-Plus – Minister of Finance Safarali Najmiddinov received the World Bank mission, led by Mr. Sunil Kumar Khosla, Manager, Central Asia Energy-Water Development Program (CAEWDP), at the end of last week, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) Secretariat reported.
The sides reportedly exchanged views on the state and prospects of further expansion of cooperation between Tajikistan and the World Bank in financial and other spheres.
Issues related to enhancement of Tajikistan’s energy sector were also among major topics of the meeting.
The meeting participants, in particular, discussed issues related to conducting a feasibility study for implementation of the Central Asia South Asia Regional Electricity Trade Project (CASA 1000), implementing planned programs and providing financial and technical assistance to Tajikistan, the Secretariat said.
Tajik minister noted that cooperation with the World Bank had allowed Tajikistan making considerable progress in carrying out financial reforms. He expressed confidence that cooperation between Tajikistan and the World Bank would continue expanding on a constructive basis.
The World Bank initiated a comprehensive Central Asia Energy-Water Development Program (CAEWDP) to improve diagnostics and analytical tools to support the countries of the region in well-informed decision-making to manage their water and energy resources, strengthen regional institutions, and stimulate investments.
The main components of the CAEWDP are: Energy Development to promote highest value energy investments and management. Areas of focus include: infrastructure planning, winter energy security, energy trade, energy accountability, and institutional development; Energy-Water Linkages to improve the understanding of linkages between water and energy at the national and regional levels. Areas of focus include: energy-water modeling, regional hydrometeorology, climate vulnerability, and energy-water dialogue; and Water Productivity to enhance the productivity and efficiency of water use in both agriculture and energy sectors. Areas of focus include: capacity strengthening, 3rd Aral Sea Basin Management Program, national action plans for water productivity, and rehabilitation of infrastructure.
The CAEWDP also aims to coordinate and leverage the contributions of other development partners, to provide critical technical support as well as financial resources for the program. Several development partners are currently involved in Central Asia, in both water and energy, including the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), the European Commission (EC), Eurasian Development Bank, UNDP, UNECE, Germany (GTZ), Switzerland (SECO), UK (DFID), the US (USAID), and the Aga Khan Foundation.
