DUSHANBE, September 24, Asia-Plus — The Asian Development Bank intends to provide some $24 million for implementation of the third phase of the Dushanbe-Kyrgyz Border Rehabilitation Project, Asia-Plus has learned at the Ministry of Transport and Communications (MoTC).
The source at a MoTC said that the ministry’s specialists are currently conducting feasibility study for implementation of the third phase of the project. “Implementation of this phase of the project will start after signing of loan agreement between the Tajik government and the ADB,” the source said, noting that the agreement is expected to be signed within the next few days.
We will recall the Dushanbe-Kyrgyz-border Rehabilitation Project that costs totaling $70 million is part of the Central Asian Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Program
The Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Program was initiated in 1997. CAREC’s goal is to improve living standards and to reduce poverty in CAREC countries through more efficient and effective regional economic cooperation. To date, the Program has focused on financing infrastructure projects and improving the region”s policy environment in the priority areas of: transport; energy; trade policy; and trade facilitation.
The three-staged project includes rehabilitations of highway from Dushanbe via Nourobod and Jirgatol to Saritash (Kyrgyzstan.
The third phase of the Dushanbe-Kyrgyz border road rehabilitation project will improve about 122 kilometers of the central and border sections of the project road, along with more than 60 km of rural roads.
Investment into this road project will reduce Tajikistan’s isolation from the neighboring markets, and promote development of export industries in the country, thereby contributing to poverty reduction and sustainable growth. This investment also showcases ADB’s commitment to regional cooperation in Central Asia.
The road is part of a network in Central Asia that directly links Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Uzbekistan. It is also part of a larger network providing links to the ocean ports of Iran and Pakistan to the south, and to the Russian Federation into the north. The road also serves as the only substantial link between Dushanbe and the Rasht Valley.
