Tajik Minister of Transport, Azim Ibrohim, met with representatives of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on May 26.
According to the Ministry of Transport (MoT) press center, Ibrohim proposed the ADB representatives to discuss the possibility of participation in a US$35 million project aiming at development of urban transport infrastructure in the Tajik capital.
Tajik official, in particular, noted that Dushanbe with population of more than 900,000 had become a regional metropolis.
He further noted that the State Unitary Enterprise (SUE) Smart City had developed a project aiming at enhancement of the Dushanbe urban transport infrastructure. The project provides for construction of overhead passages, installation of CCTV cameras at pedestrian crossings, as well as construction of alleys and boulevards.
The estimated budget for the project, which consists of 10 components, is reportedly 35 million U.S. dollars.
The minister also noted that ten three-level flyovers would be constructed in the Tajik capital in the near future.
“We would like to expand collaboration with the ADB in this direction,” Mr. Ibrohim noted.
Tajikistan joined ADB in 1998. Over 23 years, ADB has become the country’s largest multilateral development partner.
According to data from the Ministry of Transport, the ADB has provided US$434.4 million to Tajikistan for implementation of 12 transport infrastructure development projects since 2000.
Currently, two transport infrastructure projects are being implemented in Tajikistan under financial support of the Asian Development Bank: rehabilitation of the Dushanbe-Bokhtar highway (ADB’s share – US$157.2 million) and construction of a bypass road connecting Obigarm and Nourobod (US$110 million).
Besides, the ADB in November last year endorsed a US$ 67.5 million financing for construction of roads Hulbuk-Temourmalik-Kongurt and Bokhtar-Danghara.
Meanwhile, the authorities do not get to rehabilitate the Darvoz-Khorog section of the Dushanbe-Khorog highway in the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO).
Over the years of independence, practically all highways connecting the capital city with the regions have been rehabilitated under financial support of international financial institutions, with the exception of the Darvoz-Khorog section of the Dushanbe-Khorog highway. This section of the Dushanbe-Khorog highway was asphalted in the 1970s and it has not been rehabilitated since that time.
This, along with other problems, also complicates the attraction of foreign tourists to the country. Tajikistan does not have any special cultural and historical sites, and therefore, foreigners choose the country mostly because of the mountains, and they are mainly located in the Pamirs.
