Azerbaijan, Baku / corr Trend A. Badalova / The ways of deepening the interaction and more effective merger with the world markets, will be the focus of the eight member-countries of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) program, which will be held in Dushanbe on 2-3 November.
Over two days, the Ministers of Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, the Chairmen of CAREC partner organizations and other regional organizations will discuss two important issues.
The first is the simplification strategy for development of transport and trading of CAREC, which will promote the development of the sixth strategic transport corridors, running via the region, to improve access to each others' countries' economies, and also to global markets. With the assistance of this strategy, the countries will work towards increasing the efficiency of trade and the transparency of norms, rules, and procedures.
"These efforts will increase the flow of people and commodities in the region, to provide a strong groundwork for sustainable growth," said Craig Stephenson, an Asian Development Bank officer who is responsible for CAREC.
The second issue concerns the establishment of CAREC's institution, targeting expansion of opportunities of CAREC state officials for being involved in regional cooperation processes, development and realization of the regional cooperation process, development of new approaches to the regional problems, based on international experience, empirical investigations, and political analysis.
"As a result of implementation of these strategies and initiatives there will appear a steady deepening of the regional economic cooperation and progress in our long-term presentation of good neighbors, good partners, and good perspectives," Stephenson said.
CAREC is an initiative, supported by the Asian Development Bank for assistance of economic cooperation in Central Asia. The program, which commenced in 1997, concentrates on regional initiatives in transport, simplification of trading, trade policy, and energy for increasing economic indices of the region, and also sustainable living, particularly for the poor.