DUSHANBE, February 2, 2010, Asia-Plus — The second phase of the Shogun-Zighar road construction project has been completed and formal acceptance of this section of the road by a special commission will take place until February 20, the Project Implementation Unit (PIU) director Ismonqul Shoqulov said in an interview with Asia-Plus.
Iranian company Saber International has implemented the second phase of the project.
A 35-kilometer Shogun-Zighar road is part of the highway Dushanbe-Kulob-Darvoz-Khorog-Kulma-Karakoram Highway.
According to Shoqulov, the third phase of the project will be launched in late February. “The Government of Tajikistan and the Islamic Development Bank will sign a loan agreement this month and a tender for implementation of this phase will be held on February 15,” the PIU director noted.
Some 32 million U.S. dollars have been provided for implementation of the second and the third phases of the project and some 87 percent of this amount have been provided by the Islamic Development Bank and the remaining 13 percent have been provided by the Tajik government.
“The Shogun-Zighar road construction project is expected to be completed this year,” Shoqulov aid, noting that the road is part of the project for construction of the road to the Karakoram Highway that will give Tajikistan access to China’s Xinjiang region and through it to Pakistan.
The Karakoram Highway (KKH) is the highest paved international road in the world. It connects China and Pakistan across the Karakoram mountain range, through the Khunjerab Pass, at an altitude of 4,693 meters above sea level. It connects China”s Xinjiang region with Pakistan”s Gilgit-Baltistan and also serves as a popular tourist attraction. It is also referred to as National Highway 35 or N35. Due to its high elevation and the difficult conditions in which it was constructed, it is also referred to as the “Eighth Wonder of the World.”
The Karakoram 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.
