DUSHANBE, January 5, 2016, Asia-Plus – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) Board of Directors is expected to approve ADB’s new five-year country partnership strategy (CPS) for Tajikistan during the first quarter of this year, a source at the ADB Tajikistan Resident Mission (TJRM) told Asia-Plus in an interview.
According to the source, the CPS for 2016-2020 is intended to support the government’s long-term national-development strategy for 2016-2030. It is expected to focus on the creation of jobs through increased private investment, economic diversification, and competitiveness, raising industry’s contribution to economic growth.
“No global changes will be made to the structure of the next CPS,” said the source. “There will be little changes.”
80 percent of resources of the current strategy have reportedly gone to support enhancement of the transport and energy sectors. “In the next CSP, this figure will be reduced to some 60 percent and the released resources will go to support creation of new jobs, development of vocational and technical education, economic diversification, etc,” the source added.
We will recall that ADB’s updated 2016 to 2018 country program for Tajikistan was presented in Dushanbe last month. The ADB’s Tajikistan country operations business plan (COBP) for 2016–2018 reportedly has an indicative investment level of over $240 million, which is earmarked for projects ADB wishes to support.
The indicative investment pipeline includes projects to rehabilitate the Dushanbe – Qurghon Teppa road, to improve food security, and to support water resource management. The COBP also includes projects to help develop the energy sector and to reform the investment climate.
ADB assistance for 2016 is expected to be $70 million, followed by projected investments of $85 million and $86 million in 2017 and 2018, respectively. However, final amounts will depend on the country’s performance and availability of ADB funds. The decision on the share of loans and grants in the total assistance package will be based on Tajikistan’s debt distress classification jointly prepared by the IMF and World Bank, and in accordance with ADB’s grant framework.
Tajikistan joined ADB in 1998. To date, ADB has approved total assistance of around $1.4 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, developed the microfinance market, and encouraged regional cooperation and trade under the CAREC Program.
