BISHKEK, KYRGYZ REPUBLIC — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Kyrgyz Republic today signed around $15 million in additional ADB loan and grant financing for a project to improve national roads that are a key part of a strategic regional road corridor.
“Good roads are critical for the economic development of a mountainous country like the Kyrgyz Republic that has a small and widely spread population,” said Zheng Wu, transport specialist in ADB’s Central and West Asia Department. “An efficient national road network will contribute to enhancing regional cooperation, boosting the country’s trade competitiveness, and making it easier for those living along the corridor to get around more efficiently.”
The project will improve the last 60 kilometer (km) section of the Bishkek–Torugart road, the only trunk road of the country that runs from the north west to the south east, connecting Bishkek city, the Chui oblast, the Issyk-Kul oblast and the Naryn oblast. The road also links the Kyrgyz Republic to the People’s Republic of China. The project will improve the road infrastructure management skills of government staff too.
The Government of the Kyrgyz Republic will provide counterpart funding of $2.9 million. The Ministry of Transport and Communications will be the executing agency for the project, which is due for completion in 2017.
As one of the key development partners supporting the country’s road sector, ADB has financed 10 road projects totaling $552 million since 1996. ADB has supported the rehabilitation and reconstruction of 916 km of the country’s major road corridors, and helped the government strengthen trade ties with its neighbors through the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation, or CAREC, program.
ADB, based in Manila, is dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth and regional integration. Established in 1966, it is owned by 67 members—48 from the region.
