DUSHANBE, October 1, Asia-Plus – Issues related to preparations for the sixth ministerial conference of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Program that is expected to be held in Dushanbe on November 3 that were one of major topics of a meeting of President Emomali Rahmon with visiting senior representatives from the CAREC Program — Johannes Linn, Special Adviser to the CAREC Program, and Craig Steffensen, Head of the CAREC Unit (CARECU or the Program Secretariat) – that was held in the Tajik capital on September 28.
Speaking to journalists after a meeting with President Rahmon, Mr. Linn said that the upcoming conference will discuss a number of issues, which are of importance for Tajikistan. “First of all, the ministers will discuss, and we hope, endorse a strategy of promoting development of transport and commerce in the region,” said Linn, “This strategy includes creation of six transport corridors that will link Central Asia’s states to Europe, China, and South Asia.”
This corridors are of significant importance for Tajikistan because they will promote providing Tajikistan with good ties with other world, according to Linn.
“We also briefed the president on what is doing on elaboration of the strategy in the field of energy,” the CAREC special adviser said, stressing that this issue is of great importance for Tajikistan, which is rich in hydropower resources.
Besides, the CAREC ministerial conference in Dushanbe will also consider the issue of establishment of the CAREC institution for conducting training and providing assistance to and support for regional initiatives in Central Asia.
Asked whether they had discussed the issue of providing $25 million for rehabilitation of the road Dushanbe-Saritash (Kyrgyzstan), Linn said that an agreement on implementation of the third phase of the project will be discussed and singed on November 3.
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.
These areas are critical to improving the region’s economic performance and livelihoods of the people, especially of the poor.
Spanning nearly 4,000 kilometers across Central Asia, the CAREC Program includes 8 countries namely: Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia; Tajikistan; and Uzbekistan.
In addition, invitations to participate are under consideration by Turkmenistan and Russian Federation.
CAREC is also an alliance of multilateral institutions active in promoting economic cooperation in Central Asia. CAREC is also an alliance of multilateral institutions comprising Asian Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, International Monetary Fund, Islamic Development Bank, United Nations Development Program, and World Bank. ADB’s CAREC Unit (CARECU) has served as the Program Secretariat since March 2000.
CAREC operates in partnership with other key regional cooperation programs and institutions, including the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the Eurasian Economic Community (EAEC).
CAREC indeed represents a true, robust development partnership; a concrete example of countries and institutions cooperating; one which also achieves the ideals set out in the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness – namely: ownership, harmonization, alignment, results and mutual accountability.
CAREC is a powerful platform to marshal financial resources. The combined assistance of the multilateral institutions in the priority areas of transport, energy and trade during 2006-2008 totals $2.3 billion for 42 projects.
