DUSHANBE, October 24, 2012, Asia-Plus — More than 500 kilometers of regional roads in Tajikistan get support under the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Program, the Asian development Bank (ADB)’s Tajikistan Resident Mission (TJRM) said.
The roads — part of the CAREC corridor network — ensure safer and faster year-round travel between Dushanbe and borders with Kyrgyzstan at Sarytash and Uzbekistan at Tursunzoda and Panjakent.
“Improved roads reduce travel time and transport costs, increase incomes, create job opportunities, improve access to markets and social services, and strengthen competitiveness,” said Asel Chyngysheva, Officer-in-Charge at ADB TJRM.
CAREC is much more than just laying asphalt. By combining transport investments with trade facilitation initiatives, including customs cooperation and simplification of cross-border regulations, CAREC has also helped lay the foundations for an efficient trade system.
Later this month, a Tajikistan delegation led by Negmatjon Buriyev, Senior Adviser to the President for Economic Policy and CAREC National Focal Point for Tajikistan will participate in the CAREC 11th Ministerial Conference in Wuhan, Hubei Province, People’s Republic of China (PRC). The theme of this year’s Ministerial Conference is Implementing CAREC 2020: Vision and Action.
Launched last November, CAREC 2020 is the new roadmap to guide the Program towards its vision of “Good Partners, Good Neighbors, and Good Prospects,” focusing on trade expansion and improved competitiveness.
CAREC promotes project-based cooperation in transport, energy, trade facilitation, and trade policy. The CAREC partnership comprises 10 countries — Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan — and six multilateral institutions: ADB, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Monetary Fund, the Islamic Development Bank, the United Nations Development Programme, and the World Bank. ADB has served as the CAREC Secretariat since 2001.
Tajikistan joined ADB in 1998, and to date the institution has cumulatively approved a total assistance of more than $966 million in concessional loans, grants and technical assistance to the country. ADB’s operations benefit the population by reducing isolation, increasing communication, broadening access to electricity, improving social services, and creating more income-generating opportunities.
