The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is expected to support Pakistan's candidacy for full membership of Central Asia Regional Economic Co-operation (Carec) to facilitate access to energy projects from the energy surplus Carec countries, Business Recorder has learnt.
At present, Pakistan has observer status in Carec. Pakistan has been seeking funds from ADB and other donors (bilateral as well as multilateral) for the United States (US) backed Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project, backed United States (US), at an estimated cost of over $7.5 billion and 1000 megawatt electricity import from Tajikistan. "For these reasons ADB wants Pakistan to become a full Carec member to be able to access funds for these projects," sources said.
Sources in Foreign Office told Business Recorder that ADB is holding a two-day meeting of Carec member countries on April 15-16 in Manila where full membership of Pakistan is on the agenda. A follow-up meeting of Carec will be held in Tashkent early next month.
Sources said that the Foreign Office had contacted ambassadors of Carec countries and lobbied for their support to get full membership. Carec Program helps in facilitating regional co-operation in the priority areas of transport, trade facilitation, trade policy, and energy.
The eight Carec countries are Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. The Program's six multilateral partners are Asian Development Bank (ADB), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), International Monetary Fund (IMF), Islamic Development Bank (IDB), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the World Bank.
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