Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, June 2 / Trend H. Hasanov /
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) initiated the development of a new partnership strategy for Turkmenistan, which would enable many potential opportunities for effective and productive interaction, the Strategic Planning and Economic Development Institute of Turkmenistan said on Wednesday.
Turkmenistan has become the 59th member of the ADB in 2000. An agreement was signed in early 2010 on the ADB Permanent Representation in Turkmenistan.
The information provides examples of cooperation.
As a secretariat of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline project, ADB provides effective assistance in the coordination and conduct of meetings of the technical working group and project steering committee.
Turkmenistan joined the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) initiative, which is supported by the Asian Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, International Monetary Fund, Islamic Development Bank, UNDP and the World Bank.
The CAREC program's main goal is to promote the development through cooperation, leading to accelerated economic growth and poverty reduction. The project participants are Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
At the subregional workshop on the "CAREC-2020" strategy in April 2011 in Tashkent, the Turkmen delegation presented several projects in railway transport that were considered in as yet another formed medium-term sliding plan of the CAREC project for 2011-2015.
In March 2011 the ADB Board of Directors approved a loan to assist in funding the North-South railway project in Turkmenistan, including the purchase and installation of power supply systems, signaling, and telecommunications which would span a 311-kilometer railway section.
ADB enhances cooperation with Turkmenistan within regional technical assistance projects in areas such as the development of banking and the financial sector, state finances management, and others.
At present, construction of a main Kazakhstan - Turkmenistan - Iran railway is intensively underway, with the involvement of the ADB. Commissioning of this main railway allows an extension of the country's railways' length to almost 700 kilometers.