DUSHANBE, August 4, 2009, Asia-Plus – Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved two grant projects to Tajikistan this year amounting to $60 million, Mr. Makoto Ojiro, ADB’s Country Director for Tajikistan, told a press conference in Dushanbe today.
ADB”s Board of Directors last week approved a $20 million grant to supplement the Dushanbe-Kyrgyz Border Road Rehabilitation Project. The project is rehabilitating the highway which forms part of the Transport Corridor III that connects Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Uzbekistan.
“The project aims to reduce transport costs, foster regional trade and cooperation, and improve access to markets and social services for local population,” Mr. Ojiro said.
Over the past years, ADB has provided support of over $98 million in loans and grants to rehabilitate the Dushanbe-Kyrgyz border road.
Besides, ADB in early July approved and disbursed a $40 million crisis recovery support grant program to help Tajikistan sustain critical social spending programs that have been imperiled by the global economic crisis.
The program helps the government deal with budget shortfall and maintain core spending programs for critical social needs such as welfare payments and social services for vulnerable groups. It also supports public investments designed to preserve and create new jobs for economic recovery.
The ADB”s project complements assistance from other multilateral agencies and bilateral sources, including International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and European Commission.
“ADB”s grant assistance package to Tajikistan for 2010 is currently set at $74 million. The assistance program is expected to cover investments mainly in the energy and transport sectors,” said Mr. Ojiro. “In order to mobilize adequate resources for development, ADB will also support critical reforms in private sector development.”
In the meantime, concerning the economic crisis in Tajikistan, ADB’s Country Director noted that it was still impossible to say “whether the crisis already reached its bottom or not.” However, according to official statistics, one may say that the situation is currently more or less stable, Mr. Ojiro noted.
Earlier this year, Tajikistan has been expected to experience zero economic growth, meanwhile, according to statistics, there have been a certain growth. “However, there ought not to rest content with what has been achieved,” ADB’s Country Director said.
According to him, it is necessary to track changes in all indices, especially those regarding money remittances to the country, because rural population of country is currently in a very poor due to a some 50 percent decrease in money remittances.
Tajikistan joined ADB in 1998. ADB has been supporting poverty reduction in the country through investments in infrastructure, agriculture and rural development, social sector, and regional cooperation. As of August 2009, ADB has approved $372.54 million in loans, $33.89 million in technical assistance, and $160.77 million in grants to Tajikistan.
ADB, based in Manila, is dedicated to reducing poverty in the Asia and Pacific region through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration. Established in 1966, it is owned by 67 members – 48 from the region. In 2008, it approved $10.5 billion of loans, $811.4 million of grant projects, and technical assistance amounting to $274.5 million.
