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Progress Continues On 6 CAREC Corridors, Says ADB

Work on six multimodal corridors linking Central Asia to global markets under the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) programme was ongoing, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has said.

The Manila-based bank continued to support investments in roads, railways and other transport and cross-border infrastructure to complete the corridors, Physical progress on road and rail projects underway.

Toychik Chansavat, Office-in-Charge, ADB Tajikistan Resident Mission, said they were strengthening support for "soft" interventions to complement investments in "hard" infrastructure.

Under the CAREC Transport Sector Work Plan (2015-2017), efforts were being made to improve road safety, share best practices on road asset management, develop a regional strategy for railways and facilitate cross-border transport.

He claimed concrete progress made in 2015 toward the goals included the endorsement by CAREC ministers of the "Commitment to Road Safety" and the inauguration of the CAREC Railway Working Group.

Trade facilitation

Regional Improvement of Border Services (RIBS) project includes development of the National Single Window in the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan and construction of two border crossing points. The border crossing point in Tajikistan was scheduled for completion in June 2016, while construction in the Kyrgyz Republic started in May 2016. ADB is processing a similar project for Mongolia and is looking forward to launching RIBS in other CAREC member countries. The bank is promoting cooperation in sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures in CAREC, and a Common Agenda for the modernisation of SPS has been developed and approved by the 14th CAREC Ministerial Conference in Mongolia last year. A US$ 15 million loan to Mongolia to upgrade SPS measures for trade facilitation was approved in November 2015.

CAREC corridors

Ganjina Fazilova, Regional Cooperation Coordinator for Tajikistan said CAREC Corridor 1 (East-West Corridor) would enable efficient transport and trade with Europe, via the Russian road and rail network, and with East Asia, via the PRC road and rail network.

Through connections with other CAREC corridors access to these key markets would be improved for all Central Asian economies. Currently, less than 1% of Europe-Asia trade travels through Central Asia, she said. The Implementation Action Plan for the Transport and Trade Facilitation Strategy sought to raise this to 5 percent by 2017.

According to Fazilova the Action Plan included 19 projects along this Corridor out of which nine projects were ongoing: seven in PRC, one in Kazakhstan, and one in Kyrgyz Republic. This corridor included 13,600 km of road infrastructure, 12,000 km of railway network, 3 airports and a logistics center.

She said CAREC Corridor 2 connected the Caucasus and Mediterranean to East Asia - covering Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyz Republic and China.

There were 30 projects planned for this Corridor out of which 12 were in Azerbaijan, 6 in Uzbekistan, 5 in Kyrgyz Republic, 3 in PRC, 2 in Kazakhstan and one each in Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

She said this corridor covers 9,900 km of road infrastructure, 9,700 km of railway network and 6 logistics centers. CAREC Corridor 3 connected the Russian Federation with the Middle East and South Asia, running through Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Fazilova said there were 31 projects planned for this Corridor out of which 12 are in Afghanistan, 8 in Tajikistan, 6 in Kyrgyz Republic, 3 in Kazakhstan and two projects are being done on a regional level. This corridor covers 6,900 km of road infrastructure, 4,800 km of railway network and a logistics centers.

CAREC Corridor 4 connected the Russian Federation with East Asia via Mongolia and China. This is the smallest of the corridors but one with high growth potential, she remarked.

There were 7 projects planned for this Corridor out of which 5 are in Mongolia and one in PRC. This corridor covers 2,400 km of road infrastructure and 1,100 km of railway network. CAREC Corridor 5 connected East Asia (primarily PRC) with the Middle East and South Asia; running through PRC, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan and Afghanistan. There are 15 projects planned for this Corridor out of which 6 are in Tajikistan, 3 each in PRC and China, 2 in Kyrgyz Republic and two projects are being done on a regional level.

This corridor covered 3,700 km of road infrastructure, 2,000 km of railway network and one logistics centers. She said the CAREC Corridor 6 (North - South Corridor) would enable efficient transport and trade of Central Asian economies with the large markets in Europe, via the Russian road network, and South Asia, via Pakistan's National Economic Corridor.

The Corridor would provide Central Asian economies with critical access to the warm water ports of Karachi, Gwadar, Chabahar and Bandar-Abbas. The Implementation Action Plan for the Transport and Trade Facilitation Strategy identifies 15 projects along Corridor 6a and 6b. Six projects were ongoing: four in Afghanistan and two in Tajikistan. This corridor included 10,600 km roads & highways, 7,200 km of railway network and 5 key logistic centers. Approved on September 11, 2012, the project was scheduled to close on September 30, 2016. Of the $100 million project cost, ADB's grant amounts to $22 million - with counterpart financing from the Tajikistan government. A $14 million loan has been promised by the OPEC Fund for International Development, she said.