CAREC—Good Neighbors, Good Partners, Good Prospects
Overview
The Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Program is a partnership of eight countries and six multilateral institutions working to promote development through cooperation, leading to accelerated economic growth and poverty reduction. By promoting and facilitating regional cooperation in the priority areas of transport, trade facilitation, trade policy, and energy, CAREC helps Central Asian and neighboring countries realize their immense potential in an increasingly integrated Eurasia.
Through partnerships with multilateral institutions and other international agencies, the Program is a proactive facilitator of practical, results-based regional projects and policy initiatives critical to trade expansion and sustainable development.
The eight CAREC countries are Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, the People’s Republic of China, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
The Program's six multilateral partners are the Asian Development Bank (ADB), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), International Monetary Fund (IMF), Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the World Bank.
In 2008, the Program mobilized more than $2.4 billion in support of projects in the transport, trade, and energy sectors.
As the reintegration of the Eurasian continent gathers speed, the CAREC countries are poised to reap substantial benefits. With the rapid economic expansion of the People’s Republic of China and Japan to the east, Russian Federation to the north, and India and Pakistan to the south, there is a real and growing demand for improved connections between Europe and Asia.
This momentum provides CAREC countries with an unprecedented opportunity to emerge as a center for trade and commerce, to achieve higher levels of economic growth, and to reduce poverty.
None of the region’s economies will be able to fully capture this opportunity in isolation. But all will benefit from working together, and with their neighbors, to build on their strengths for mutual progress.
Turning this potential into reality will require significant improvement in the subregion’s physical infrastructure such as roads and rail systems; in the way the region manages its shared resources to support efficient and rational use of energy and water; in progress toward harmonizing, automating, and modernizing its customs administrations; and in efforts to streamline the rules and procedures that govern the countries’ international trade relationships.
Improved connectivity, efficient sharing of natural resources, shorter transit times, and clear, consistent trade regimes will return large dividends. Asian Development Bank research suggests that increased regional cooperation, along with key economic reforms, could help double per capita incomes in the CAREC region within a decade. As a result, poverty could fall from more than 40% to 25% or less by 2015. This is a powerful motivator for greater regional cooperation, and for the CAREC Program.
Comprehensive Action Plan
The CAREC Program is guided by a Comprehensive Action Plan (CAP) 
. The Action Plan was developed through a series of intensive consultations with participating countries and was endorsed by all countries at the 5th CAREC Ministerial Conference in October 2006. The CAP represented a milestone in the development of the CAREC Program, marking the transition to a results-oriented Program with tangible targets and outputs, based on strong country ownership, pragmatic approaches, and mutual accountability.
The CAP presents a set of clear themes that now frame the work of the Program
- Strategic direction and ownership by the participating countries.
- Mainstreaming of regional cooperation by CAREC countries and multilateral institution partners.
- Connectivity to enable business enterprises to access regional and global markets.
- Knowledge and capacity building to facilitate consensus and deal making.
- New approaches to development through cooperation by including greater emphasis on policy initiatives and new concepts.
Progress is built on four action pillars:
- A regional infrastructure networks pillar is helping mainstream support for transport corridors, energy markets, and trade-related infrastructure projects integrating the region. Connectivity is a unifying theme of the Program, underscoring the region’s role as a Eurasian land link.
- A knowledge and capacity building pillar combines the research and analysis strengths of CAREC countries and multilateral institutions, increasing the capacity for designing and implementing mutually beneficial regional initiatives. Training for government officials is developing a core group skilled in regional cooperation processes.
- A trade, investment, and business development pillar is helping develop a more integrated framework for improving the investment climate in Central Asia and neighboring countries, and expanding access for business enterprises to international markets.
- A regional public goods pillar will expand the Program on a project-specific basis to address transboundary issues, such as protection of the environment and management of natural resources, and measures to reduce the impact of communicable diseases such as avian flu.
Overall Institutional Framework
The CAREC Program is focused on four priority areas—transport, trade facilitation, trade policy, and energy. Work in each area is led by a committee consisting of country and multilateral institution representatives. These groups feed their outputs to regular Senior Officials’ Meetings, which assess opportunities from a regional perspective and determine options for the future directions of the Program. An annual Ministerial Conference provides overall guidance to the Program and determines policy and strategic directions and goals. ADB is the Program secretariat.
The overall institutional framework was designed to guide and strengthen the planning, prioritization, and implementation of the Program. It supports
- broad-based dialogue and consensus building, leading to growing trust and confidence among all participating countries and stakeholders;
- identification and prioritization of regional cooperation initiatives, and assistance in preparing and implementing these initiatives; and
- mobilization of financial and technical resources for accelerated progress.
CAREC Institute
The CAREC Institute supports the knowledge and capacity building pillar of the CAREC Comprehensive Action Plan, which aims to harness the region’s research strengths and combine them with a training program for government officials to increase capacities for designing and implementing mutually beneficial regional initiatives.
The CAREC Institute has two main purposes:
- Improve the capacity of CAREC government officials to plan and implement regional cooperation projects
- Apply new solutions and best practices based on empirical research to regional challenges and cooperative processes, and build up regional policy analysis capabilities
The Institute's main outputs will include a professional development and training program, an applied research program, and an outreach program.
The Institute's work plan is focused on training, research, and outreach efforts that are closely aligned with the priority areas of the CAREC Program. The Institute will also examine issues related to potential new areas of cooperation and improving the Program’s institutional arrangements and efficiency.
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