Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation

Technical Assistance for A Comparative Assessment of Economic Development in Central Asia (TA No. 5968-REG)

Objectives:

The TA aims to provide analytical underpinning to policy dialogue with participating governments and help formulate an analytical framework for a new round of subregional cooperation initiatives. It will assist the governments of the Central Asian republics to

• systematically assess the impact of the 10-year transition on regional economic development and the current growth environment
• enhance understanding of the economic structure, strengths, and potentials of individual economies in the region
• identify key policy constraints to and the way forward to future growth that best benefits the poor

Scope:

The TA will undertake the following activities focusing on the Central Asian economies of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan:

• make field visits and consult with government and private institutions, regarding key development issues, policy concerns, and economic prospects
• identify key factors that explain economic development during transition in Central Asia, highlighting the differences from Central and Eastern Europe, the Baltic states, Russia, the PRC, and others, and emphasizing the role of macroeconomic stability; sector performance; fiscal, monetary, trade, and exchange control policies
• assess economic challenges, constraints to production and investment, and growth prospect faced by the Central Asian economies in the short and medium term, including impact of changes of oil prices on the development prospect
• compare and analyze economic structure, strength, and potentials of individual economies in the region
• examine the impact of transition on poverty and poverty reduction in relation to the current studies conducted by ADB and other institutions, focusing on job creation and access to basic education and health infrastructures
• make a comparative analysis of experiences in policy, regulatory, and institutional support for private sector development
• review experiences in decentralization and intergovernmental fiscal relations

Project Cost and Financing ($):

$250,000

Status:

Ongoing