DUSHANBE, January 15, Asia-Plus – Iran’s construction company Sabir International will start the third phase of the project for construction of a 35-kilometer road Shagon-Zighar in late March, Asia-Plus has learned from Ismonqul Shoqulov, director of the unit for management of the Shagon-Zighar road project.
According to him, Iran’s Sabir International last August won a tender for implementing the second and the third phase of the project and an appropriate agreement between the Iranian company and the Tajik Ministry of transport and Communications (MoTC) was signed in October 2007.
Shoqulov said, “Sabitr International is currently implementing the second phase, which includes rehabilitation of a 10-kilometer section of the road.” He added that the first phase of the project included construction of the first five kilometers of the road. This 5-kilometer section was put into operation in 2005 already.
“Some $32 million has been provided for implementing the second and the third phases of the project,” the director said, noting that 87 percent of this amount is provided by the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and share of the Tajik government accounts for 13 percent.
Some $15 million were provided for the second phase, which was launched in November last year and the third phase cost is some $17 million. Shoqulov noted that the road Shagon-Zighar would be finished by 2010.
The road Shagon-Zighar is part of the highway Dushanbe-Kulob-Darvoz-Khorog-Kulma-KKH, which of significant importance for Tajikistan. This highway facilitates access of Tajikistan to seaports in Pakistan and spurs increased trade and economic development throughout the region.
The Karakorum Highway (KKH) is the highest paved international road in the world. It connects China and Pakistan across the Karakorum mountain range, through the Khunjerab Pass. It connects China’s Xinjiang region with Pakistan’s Northern Area and also serves as a popular tourist attraction.
The Karakorum Highway, also known as the Friendship Highway in China, was built by the governments of Pakistan and China, and was completed in 1986, after 20 years of construction.
The highway runs approximately 1,300 kilometers from Kashgar, a city in the Xinjiang region of Chin, to Havejan, located in the Abbotabad district of Pakistan. An extension of the highway meets the Grand Trunk Road at Hasan Abdal, west of Islamabad.
The highway cuts through the collision zone between the Asian and Indian continents, where China, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India come within 250 kilometers of each other.
