, January 11, Asia-Plus – In 2005 the European Union strengthened its cooperation with the countries of
Central Asia
; in particular with
Kazakhstan
,
Kyrgyzstan
and
Tajikistan
. A clear indicator of this was the accelerated implementation of its various assistance programs in the region.
Press release issued by the European Commission quoted the EC’s Head of Delegation, Adriaan van der Meer as saying in his statement, “The aim of these programs is to assist the countries in promoting democratic and economic reform. Our support has given an important boost to these reforms.”
A raft of regional program addressed the fight against drug trafficking, border controls, environmental cooperation and support to economic and social reforms.
National program focused on specific needs for each country. In
Kazakhstan
, the key areas were economic and institutional reform, human rights, agriculture and transport.
In
Kyrgyzstan
and
Tajikistan
, the primary focus was on food security, which totaled 14.8m euro, as well as 10.7m euro for social programs and poverty reduction.
EU assistance programs were also active in key sectors. 10.6 million euro was spent on institutional reform programs, including customs reform, borders and anti-drug trafficking measures. Economic reforms accounted for 7.8 million euro of funding, for example support to
Kazakhstan
’s accession to the WTO as well as cross-border trade facilitation between the countries.
Overall European Union assistance to the three countries in 2005 amounted to 36.2 million euro contracted funds.
