DUSHANBE, March 5, 2015, Asia-Plus – On Wednesday March 4, Tajik President received Mr. Wencai Zhang, the Vice-President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
According to the Tajik president’s official website, Rahmon and Zhang discussed issues related to cooperation between Tajikistan and the Bank, ADB’s support for socioeconomic development of Tajikistan, including mitigation of adverse impact of external crisis factors.
Tajikistan’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate for the first month of this year was 5.1 percent, 2.0 percent fewer than in the same period last year.
Mr. Zhang noted that the ADB would continue supporting sustainable economic development of Tajikistan in the future as well.
The sides reportedly exchanged views on the ADB-Tajikistan Partnership Strategy, which will cover 2016-2020.
In the course of the talks, President Emomali Rahmon appreciated ADB’s support for economic development of Tajikistan.
Mr. Wencai Zhang is the Vice-President (Operations 1) of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). He joined ADB in December 2013. He is responsible for operations in the South Asia Department and the Central and West Asia Department.
We will recall that the ADB has agreed to boost its assistance to Tajikistan by around $20 million in 2015, raising its full year planned assistance program to $79 million. The 2015 assistance will be used to support development of the private sector, railways and water resources, and to help strengthen the investment climate.
Tajikistan joined ADB in 1998 and, to date, ADB has approved total assistance of around $1.3 billion in concessional loans, grants, and technical assistance to the country. The ADB-Tajikistan partnership has promoted social development, upgraded and built new infrastructure, expanded agricultural production, and encouraged regional cooperation and trade under the CAREC Program.
