ADB to lend US $46 million to the country over 2 years

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) plans to lend Tajikistan more than US $46 million over the next two years in an effort to bolster rural development and enhance regional cooperation. "The indicative annual lending is set at $23 million for each of the two years [2005-2006], which could further be strengthened by additional resources allocated for regional cooperation," Graham Dwyer, an ADB spokesman, told IRIN from Manila on Monday. The bank's assistance level for 2004 was expected to be around $25 million, while in 2003, Tajikistan had been granted $38 million in loans, Dwyer explained. His comments followed a recent announcement by the ADB, stating that Dushanbe would receive $46 million in loans in two years starting from 2005, a decision endorsed by the Manila-based bank's board of directors. While the number of people living below the national poverty line had declined from 83 percent in 1999 to about 70 percent now, the country's poverty level had still been the highest among the Central Asian republics, the ADB noted, adding that the mountainous former Soviet republic remained one of the poorest in the world with widespread poverty and a lack of job opportunities being the prime social concerns. In a move to help the Tajik government, ADB's country strategy and programme identified rural development and regional cooperation as the strategic operational focuses in Tajikistan, home to some 6.5 million people. "Tajikistan's rural economy is dominated by cotton and cereal production. Cotton provides jobs for about half the work force," Dwyer said. "Despite the importance to the economy, cotton farms have accumulated massive debts. This needs to be addressed through a well designed restructuring programme in phases," he explained. ADB will provide further technical assistance to help Dushanbe through the initial phase of the farm debt resolution scheduled for 2005. To ensure more sustainable improvements in the livelihood of the rural population, a technical assistance project in 2005 will prepare a $23 million rural development project planned for 2006. ADB is also set to release in 2005 a $23 million loan to rehabilitate the Dushanbe-Kyrgyz border road, one of the most important transport corridors linking Tajikistan to neighbouring Kyrgyzstan and on to the road system in China. "Helping Tajikistan break out of its landlocked geographic isolation through the rehabilitation of this important corridor is one of the strategic thrusts of the ADB," Yue Fei, an ADB senior country programmes specialist, said. To further foster regional cooperation, a $9.8 million project to promote the trade of gas from Uzbekistan and improve the efficiency of the gas supply within Tajikistan is also in the pipeline for 2005, according to ADB. Since joining the ADB in 1998, Tajikistan has received 15 loans amounting to about $210.9 million, with 13 of these still ongoing.