Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec 9 /Trend N.Ismayilova/
The board of directors of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a new strategy of partnership with the Azerbaijan (Country Partnership Strategy) for late 2012, ADB head Ollie Noroyono said on Friday.
"We have already begun to prepare a strategy and it is expected to cover a period of five years. The main direction will remain in areas such as improving water and sanitation, construction of highways and the improvement of electric power transmission systems," Mr Noroyono said.
He added that ADB also aimed at cooperation in new sectors. Active negotiations with the government will be held and the prospects of the bank's activities in other areas and sectors will be discussed next year.
A business plan for operations in Azerbaijan in 2011-2013, in which the bank will allocate funds from its capital amounting to $945 million, was approved by the ADB board of directors and will be reviewed in 2012.
According to the business plan, funding was set at $340 million in 2011, $355 million in 2012 and $250 million in 2013. The amount of technical assistance being provided is $2 million.
The plan for the development of operations in the country will be directed to infrastructure developments in the first place. It suggests measures to reduce the adverse effects of climate change and greenhouse gas emissions. The priority areas are transport, energy, water and sewer services.
ADB directed about $70 million to projects in Azerbaijan, in 2011.