The Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Haruhiko Kuroda is expected to arrive in Tajikistan on 1 November  for a three-day visit.

The main purpose of the visits is for the ADB president to attend the 6th Ministerial Conference of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) that will be held in Dushanbe on 2-3 November 2007.

According to the ADB Dushanbe Office, on arrival in Dushanbe Mr. Kuroda will hold talks with Prime Minister Oqil Oqilov to discuss issues related to cooperation between ADB and Tajikistan. During his stay in Tajikistan, Mr. Kuroda is also scheduled to meet with President Emomali Rahmon and Tajikistan’s economic team.

During the conference, eight member countries of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation program will discuss ways to deepen interaction and integrate more effectively with world markets.

Over two days, it brings together ministers and senior officials from Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, the People’s Republic of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan; as well as senior representatives of CAREC’s six partner multilateral institutions (MI), bilateral and other regional organizations.

Ministers at the conference are expected to consider two wide-ranging initiatives that would strengthen cooperation.

The first is the CAREC Transport and Trade Facilitation Strategy, which would support the development of six strategic transport corridors crisscrossing the region, thereby improving access of these economies to each other and to global markets. Through trade facilitation, member countries will work to enhance the efficiency of trade, as well as transparency and awareness of rules, regulations and procedures.

These efforts are expected to improve the flow of people and goods around the region and across borders, providing a firm foundation for sustained growth.

The second initiative is the establishment of the CAREC Institute, which will have two main purposes. The first is to enhance the capabilities of CAREC government officials to engage in regional cooperation processes and to plan and implement regional cooperation projects, while secondly, outlining new approaches to regional challenges based on international best practices, empirical research and policy analysis.

Implementation of these strategies and initiatives is dedicated to substantially deepen regional economic cooperation and progress toward our long-term vision of ’Good Neighbors, Good Partners and Good Prospects’.

In the meantime, Mr. Juan Miranda, Director General of ADB’s Central and West Asia Department, noted ahead of the 6th CAREC Ministerial Conference, ’The Central Asian countries must work together to remove barriers hampering trade and improve roads and other infrastructure if the region is to maintain its rapid economic growth, a senior Asian Development Bank (ADB) official said ahead of a regional cooperation meeting ’Improved cooperation on trade and transport challenges currently facing Central Asia will ensure its people and goods can move freely and efficiently across borders, providing a firm foundation for sustained growth,’ Mr. Miranda said.

Economies in the region are growing rapidly. However, the boom is taking a heavy toll on infrastructure. In parts of the region, aging roads are deteriorating faster than rehabilitation works can compensate. The rail networks are also being strained.

Trade flows through Central Asia are growing, but the region so far only captures a small portion of the potential. Less than 1% of trade between Europe and China, for example, travels through Central Asia. The preferred route is by sea.

’Central Asia lies at the geographic center of the Eurasian continent, but it has been unable to capitalize on this advantage because of the lack of transport links,’ said Mr. Miranda.

CAREC is an ADB-supported initiative to encourage economic cooperation in Central Asia. Initiated in 1997, the program to date has focused on regional initiatives in transport, trade facilitation, trade policy, and energy critical to improving the economic performance of the region and the livelihoods of all people - especially of the poor.

ADB said the Japan fund for poverty reduction will provide a US$2 million grant to be managed by ADB for the sustainable access for isolated rural communities project, estimated to cost US$2.369 million. The balance will be covered by Tajikistan government. Tajikistan is heavily dependent on road transport, which accounts for about 80 pct of total freight and 90% of total passenger movements, the bank said.

The project will involve the rehabilitation of an existing 241.8-metre bridge connecting two villages in the Rasht district to restore access for rural communities in one of the poorest regions of the country, ADB said.

The undertaking also involves the construction of a 1.05-kilometre bridge approach road on each side of the Surkhob River, the upgrade of a 14-kilometre rural road in the immediate vicinity of the affected communities and the introduction of community-based infrastructure maintenance practices, the bank said.