BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb.9. The Trade and Investment Facilitation Partnership Agreement (CARTIF) can become a major catalyst for the expansion of cross-border investment in the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Program region, , reads the article published on the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) website, Trend reports.
“Negotiations on CARTIF are expected to commence in early 2026. For these negotiations to be successful, active engagement by the governments of CAREC countries—as well as strong and sustained support from other key stakeholders, including the private sector and development partners—will be essential. Additional analytical work and capacity building can help officials navigate the technical complexities involved and identify mutually beneficial solutions to issues associated with cross-border trade and investment facilitation.
If successfully concluded and enacted, CARTIF can become a major catalyst for the expansion of cross-border trade and investment in the CAREC region. It would support the development of regional value chains and production networks, promote economic diversification, and boost shared prosperity in the region,” reads the article.
On 20 November 2025, the 24th Ministerial Conference of the CAREC Program adopted the Bishkek Declaration officially launching negotiations on the CAREC Trade and Investment Facilitation Partnership Agreement. This marked an important milestone in CAREC countries’ efforts to advance regional economic cooperation and integration in trade and investment.
CARTIF is intended to serve as a legal framework for closer cooperation among CAREC countries in cross-border trade and investment facilitation. It covers a broad range of policy areas related to the movement of goods, services, and capital across borders.
CARTIF has both WTO-plus features—enhanced collaboration in areas already covered by the WTO agreements, such as trade facilitation, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, and trade in services—and WTO-extra elements that involve topics not comprehensively covered under the current WTO agreements, such as investment facilitation, digital trade, and supply chain connectivity. By bringing this broad agenda into a single framework, CARTIF reflects the growing nexus between cross-border trade and investment and the need for coherent, mutually reinforcing reforms.
A key feature of CARTIF is its flexible, modular design. Under the draft text, a binding Framework Agreement, together with a set of Initial Protocols, is to form a single undertaking that applies to all participating countries once in force. Additional protocols may be negotiated later by interested parties, allowing cooperation to deepen gradually. Accordingly, CARTIF allows countries to engage at a pace consistent with their national priorities and levels of readiness. This approach mirrors relevant international experience, including the “ASEAN Minus X” formula, elements of open regionalism in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, and the balance between ambition and flexibility embodied in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
CARTIF is to develop an institutional mechanism, which will be agreed by the CAREC governments. The preliminary proposed structure includes a Ministerial Council, a Senior Officials Council, a Regional Trade and Investment Committee, and a Secretariat. These bodies are intended to support the implementation, administration, facilitation, monitoring and evaluation, and further development of CARTIF.
CARTIF is also to have a transparent, rule-based dispute settlement mechanism, emphasizing consultation and mutual agreement, with additional procedures available if issues remain unresolved. Decisions issued under this mechanism are to be binding on the parties concerned.