The Asian Development Bank is facilitating subregional cooperation between Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asian and other countries in the sphere transport and trade

The Asian Development Bank is facilitating subregional cooperation between Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asian and other countries in the sphere transport and trade. With this aim the Asian Development Bank /ADB/ will approve a technical assistance (TA) grant of 600,000 USD. The TA will provide opportunities for cooperative dialogue between Afghanistan, Pakistan, and their neighbors in Central Asia, and help them identify and prioritize projects or programs for subregional cooperation, focusing on the transport and trade sectors. As Richard Vokes, Director of the South Asia Regional Department's Operations Coordination Division comments, "beside the economic benefits of regional cooperation, dialogue and sustained cooperation among neighboring countries builds interdependence and mutual trust. Regional cooperation is vital in maintaining peace and security, which are necessary for sustained economic growth and development." The opportunity for economic cooperation among South and Central Asian countries was opened up by recent progress towards peace in Afghanistan. A peaceful and stable Afghanistan offers the possibility of a southern route from these countries to the Arabian Sea. The TA builds on the findings of two small-scale TA grants that assessed Afghanistan's and Pakistan's potential for regional economic cooperation, and on the results of the ADB-hosted first Central and South Asia Transport and Trade Forum (CSATTF) Ministerial Conference, held in Manila in August 2003 and attended by Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Iran as an observer. Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, which all share borders with Afghanistan, are also interested in cooperation with their southern neighbors - Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran - to gain access to seaports for their produce. Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are active participants in ADB's Cetral Asian Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) program.