Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation

Overall Institutional Framework

A key to the initial success of the CAREC Program has been the close coordination between ADB and the participating governments. This close coordination will remain essential to the future progress of the Program. As the Program grows, there is an increasing need for strengthening its overall planning, prioritization, and effective implementation to ensure that limited resources continue to be used to serve the best overall interests of the countries in the region.

ADB and the participating countries have agreed to establish an overall institutional framework. The proposed framework was endorsed by all participating countries in the end January 2002

View the framework [ PDF ].

The institutional framework is to facilitate

• encouragement of broad-based dialogue and consensus building, leading to growing trust and confidence among all participating countries and stakeholders
• identification and prioritization of economic cooperation initiatives and actions involving two countries or more, based on mutual benefit and, once agreed upon, assistance in preparing and implementing these initiatives and actions
• promotion of regional economic cooperation, including mobilizing the necessary financial and technical resources for accelerated progress

As a mechanism, the framework should be

• effective and simple, to minimize unnecessary formal arrangements and to maximize practical results
• fair, to ensure shared benefits for all the countries involved
• flexible, to accommodate the unique and specific conditions and requirements of each participating country through opportunities provided for frank exchange of views
• sustainable, to ensure that regional economic cooperation is an ongoing complement to national development

The institutional framework has two levels.

1. At the policy level, a Ministerial-level mechanism is required to provide overall strategic guidance and take policy decisions.
2. At the operational level, a mechanism of Senior Officials' Meetings is charged with the coordinating responsibility to ensure the effective implementation of policy decisions made at the Ministerial-level Conference. This includes the identification and examination of specific regional and cross-sectoral issues. Ad-hoc Coordinating Committees will be established, as required, with its main responsibility to coordinate sectoral issues. The third component at the operational level will be the working groups being responsible for the preparation and implementation of agreed priority regional projects.

ADB will provide technical and financial support for the creation and effective functioning of such an institutional support mechanism.

View directory of national focal points (NFPs), sectoral coordinating committe representatives on transport, energy and water, trade policy, and trade facilitation and multilateral institutions working group.