The new offices, as well as an existing one in Azerbaijan, will be coordinated from a regional hub office in Istanbul, Turkey. ADB already has resident missions in all other Central Asian countries: Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

"This is a dynamic region with exciting investment needs and opportunities in the public and private sector," said Mr. Juan Miranda, Director General of ADB’s Central and West Asia Department. "The core strategic areas include infrastructure, energy, urban services and public sector reforms. We add to these core areas a regional cooperation perspective, essentially to link these markets to others in the east, west, north and south."

In addition to Istanbul, ADB will also enlarge its office in Almaty, Kazakhstan, in order to boost its private sector operations and promote regional cooperation activities in the region.

The new office network will allow ADB staff to respond faster to the needs of client governments and the private sector.