Azerbaijan, Baku, 4 February / Trend corr. I.Khalilova / The Asian Development Bank (ADB) intends to send consultants to Azerbaijan to hold a review of the possibility of creating new transport corridors connecting Central Asia with Azerbaijan, said the Head of ADB's Regional Co-operation Department, Robert Siy, on 4 February. The projects are envisaged to be realized within the framework of CAREC (Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation).
This delegation includes the establishment of six transport corridors running via the territory of CAREC member-countries with the total budget of $18bln. Two of the corridors will connect Azerbaijan with Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan and envision the development of automobile, air and railway transport.
"One of the important directions can be the development of ports on common shores and adequate infrastructure should be established in this respect," Siy said. According to him, the total amount of financing for the development of transport corridors, approved by the ABD in 2007 jointly with other international financial institutes participating in CAREC, made up $1.2bln with $680mln allocated by the ADB.
Siy said that the Multitranche Financing Facility (MFF) adopted by the ABD for Azerbaijan and envisaging the approval of $500mln for the implementation of transport projects, is one of the steps taken for the development of the transport corridor.
CAREC is a partnership involving eight countries ( Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan) and six international financial institutions (Asian Development Bank, International Monetary Fund, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, UNDP, World Bank and Islamic Development Bank).