Regional : Strengthening Regional Cooperation on Skills Development under the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Program

Sovereign Project | 54234-001

The TA will help CAREC countries achieving a stronger regional integration conducive for higher, more inclusive and sustainable economic growth through improvements in the standards and harmonization in HE and TVET and promotion of greater skill mobility while facilitating evidence-based decision-making process.

Project Details

  • Project Officer
    Arapova, Altynay
    Central and West Asia Department
    Request for information
  • Country/Economy
    Regional
  • Sector
    • Education
Project Name Strengthening Regional Cooperation on Skills Development under the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Program
Project Number 54234-001
Country / Economy Regional
Azerbaijan
Georgia
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyz Republic
Mongolia
Pakistan
Tajikistan
Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan
Project Status Active
Project Type / Modality of Assistance Technical Assistance
Source of Funding / Amount
TA 6806-REG: Strengthening Regional Cooperation on Skills Development under the CAREC Program
Japan Fund for Prosperous and Resilient Asia and the Pacific US$ 2.00 million
Operational Priorities OP1: Addressing remaining poverty and reducing inequalities
OP2: Accelerating progress in gender equality
OP6: Strengthening governance and institutional capacity
OP7: Fostering regional cooperation and integration
Sector / Subsector

Education / Education sector development - Technical and vocational education and training
Gender Some gender elements
Description The TA will help CAREC countries achieving a stronger regional integration conducive for higher, more inclusive and sustainable economic growth through improvements in the standards and harmonization in HE and TVET and promotion of greater skill mobility while facilitating evidence-based decision-making process.
Project Rationale and Linkage to Country/Regional Strategy

There is a clear gap in the CAREC Program on the Human Development Cluster (as part of the CAREC 2030s five clusters) and the need to build up the ADB's scoping study recommendations on Education and Skills Development Under the CAREC Program, by focusing on regional cooperation to strengthen skills development at Higher Education (HE) and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) levels through adopting the long-life learning paradigm acknowledging skill mobility as part of skills development. The latter has become so important because labor markets in the region have extended beyond borders, while the existing skills mobility channels are inefficient and lack transparency with a limited scope to support a large-scale deployment through Government-to-Government (G-to-G and Business-to-Business (B-to-B) recruitments, resulting in the Private Recruitment Agency (PRA) as the most widely used, while it remains unclear, costly and unable to fully protect migrant workers. Moreover, to be able to conduct a series of assessments on the job and labor market in the region comprehensively and regularly, there is a need to have a labor market information system for monitoring and evaluation.

Improving connectivity in the soft infrastructure to strengthen the connectivity in the hard infrastructure of the road, energy and others, is key for regional integration. This is really needed for CAREC region, which is still among the least connected in the world. The HE and TVET systems in the region face significant challenges and as skills development worldwide improve fast, there is a risk that the region could be left behind and suffering from a brain drain as its talented work force are attracted elsewhere. Therefore, the region needs to strengthen its national, regional and global skills standards to be more competitive to provide a strong basis for more foreign direct investments and people-to-people connections. The resulting improved skills development and overall people connectivity will bring positive ramifications to the economy through increased regional and global trades and investments, as well as developments of various economic corridors with their special economic zones (SEZs) as part of the global production networks and value chains.
Impact

Human development improved through increased quality, mobility, and productivity of the labor force of the CAREC countries
Project Outcome
Description of Outcome

Regional cooperation and integration in the CAREC region strengthened through better utilization and allocation of human resources in line with the CAREC 2030 and Strategy 2030 Operational Plan
Progress Toward Outcome
Implementation Progress
Description of Project Outputs

Standardization and harmonization in higher education strengthened

Standardization and harmonization in TVET strengthened

Governance and regulation of recruitment systems improved

Labor market database and information system developed
Status of Implementation Progress (Outputs, Activities, and Issues)
Geographical Location Azerbaijan - Nation-wide; Georgia - Nation-wide; Kazakhstan - Nation-wide; Kyrgyz Republic - Nation-wide; Mongolia - Nation-wide; Pakistan - Nation-wide; Tajikistan - Nation-wide; Turkmenistan - Nation-wide; Uzbekistan - Nation-wide
Summary of Environmental and Social Aspects
Environmental Aspects
Involuntary Resettlement
Indigenous Peoples
Stakeholder Communication, Participation, and Consultation
During Project Design ASEAN University Network, University of Tsukuba
During Project Implementation
Business Opportunities
Consulting Services A total of 305 person-months (pm) of international firm (66 pm) under quality-based selection and individual consulting services (71 pm of international consultants and 168 pm of national consultants) will be provided using time-based and lumpsum or output-based contracts. International and national consultants may include researcher and data analysts; education, training, and IT experts; publications and/or website developers; and event organizers. ADB will also engage international and national experts, which may include ADB staff, as resource persons to make presentations and/or to facilitate discussions at workshops, trainings, focus group discussions, seminar, conferences, and other events. ADB will engage individual consultants and international firm following the ADB Procurement Policy (2017, as amended from time to time) and its associated project administration instructions and/or staff instructions.
Procurement The purchase of software, data, and equipment will follow ADB Procurement Policy and Procurement Regulations for ADB Borrowers (2017, as amended from time to time).
Responsible ADB Officer Arapova, Altynay
Responsible ADB Department Central and West Asia Department
Responsible ADB Division Regional Cooperation and Integration Unit, CWRD (CWRC)
Executing Agencies
Asian Development Bank
Timetable
Concept Clearance 19 May 2021
Fact Finding 03 May 2021 to 31 May 2021
MRM -
Approval 14 Oct 2021
Last Review Mission -
Last PDS Update 09 Jul 2021

TA 6806-REG

Milestones
Approval Signing Date Effectivity Date Closing
Original Revised Actual
14 Oct 2021 - 14 Oct 2021 30 Sep 2024 - -
Financing Plan/TA Utilization Cumulative Disbursements
ADB Cofinancing Counterpart Total Date Amount
Gov Beneficiaries Project Sponsor Others
0.00 2,000,000.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 2,000,000.00 22 Sep 2023 298,080.79

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None currently available.

Evaluation Documents See also: Independent Evaluation

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Related Publications

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Tenders

Tender Title Type Status Posting Date Deadline
Knowledge Product Specialist Assistant Individual - Consulting Closed
Database and Analytical Tools Developer Individual - Consulting Closed
Administrative and Technical Assistant Individual - Consulting Closed
International - Project Specialist Individual - Consulting Closed

Contracts Awarded

No contracts awarded for this project were found

Procurement Plan

None currently available.