Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 4 / Trend , N.Ismayilova /
The World Bank (WB) has evaluated the current state of a portfolio of projects implemented in Azerbaijan and set them out in a single report, WB Baku Office head Joseph Owen said at a meeting with project teams heads.
WB Regional Director for South Caucasus Asad Alam has arrived in the country for this purpose. Last time the Bank reviewed its portfolio was two years ago.
Mr. Owen said Azerbaijan has been a member of the World Bank since 1992.To date, the Bank has allocated $2.9 billion to Azerbaijan to fund 43 projects, due to which the country yields only to Turkey and Kazakhstan. The Bank's current portfolio in Azerbaijan makes up 20 projects worth $2.3 billion covering investments in transport, water and sanitation, agriculture and irrigation and health and education.
"One of the bank's notable contributions in Azerbaijan is the investments in road projects," he said
He said that since 2001, as many as 300 kilometres of roads were repaired as a part of the road projects and it is planned to reconstruct a further 300 kilometres in the coming years.
"Projects in the area of water supply and system improvement are also important," he added.
"Realisation of two projects in this area helped to improve water supply in 12 regions, while feasibility studies have been prepared for the remaining areas," Mr. Owen said.
Currently, the two projects on water and sewer services which cover 43 regions are underway.
As a part of the irrigation projects, there has been an improved irrigation system on 60,000 hectares and a further 60,000 hectares are expected to be improved under the second irrigation project.
Some 180,000 small communities benefited from the project 'Azeri rural investment' (AzRIP) implemented in 2004.
"The WB pays great attention to improving people's wellbeing, so the realisation of projects in education and health is important," he concluded.