ASTANA, Kazakhstan, June 3. Kazakhstan and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have discussed priorities for further cooperation within the framework of the Country Partnership Strategy of Kazakhstan and ADB for 2023–2027, Trend reports.
Discussions took place during a meeting between Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of National Economy of Kazakhstan Nurlan Baibazarov and Utsav Kumar, ADB's Country Director for Kazakhstan, and Eugenue Zhukov, the Director General of the Central and West Asia Regional Department.
According to Baibazarov, Kazakhstan is ready to further expand cooperation with ADB.
"Our nation seeks cooperative energy, green economy, transport and logistics, and water resources management projects. Our Kazakh expert exchange program is very significant," he said.
In turn, Eugenue Zhukov noted that the Asian Development Bank has been cooperating with Kazakhstan for 30 years as a key partner.
"The organization invests, develops public-private partnerships, and provides expertise to boost the economy. Support for climate change mitigation and decarbonization is a priority," Zhukov said.
In addition, during the meeting, the current status of the ongoing project for the construction of the Karaganda Multidisciplinary University Hospital was reviewed, and ADB’s participation in the reconstruction of the Kyzylorda – Zhezkazgan road was also discussed.
At the end of the meeting, Baibazarov instructed government agencies to speed up procedures for the effective implementation of projects, and the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation to discuss ADB’s participation in the process of modernizing the country’s water infrastructure.
To note, Kazakhstan joined the ADB in 1994. ADB has since committed about $7 billion in loans to the government and private sector, grants, and technical assistance.
Regional cooperation and integration initiatives under the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) program remain an integral part of ADB operations in Kazakhstan, which is chairing the program this year.