In Central Asia, a rehabilitated road has reconnected the cities of Almaty in Kazakhstan and Bishkek in the Kyrgyz Republic. The new road, along with improved border-crossing processes, is boosting trade and tourism between the two countries and in the region. It has also opened a bustling economic corridor that links Europe to East Asia.
The road linking Almaty in Kazakhstan and Bishkek in the Kyrgyz Republic forged strong commercial and cultural ties between the two cities. Since its construction in the early 1980s, the road had deteriorated, hampering trade and tourism. With cofinancing from the European Union and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, ADB implemented the Almaty–Bishkek Regional Road Rehabilitation Projects to improve road infrastructure and safety between the two economic centers. The rehabilitated road, completed in 2007, makes operational an economic corridor that links Europe to East Asia.
Interventions
The project rehabilitated 225.7 km of road infrastructure— 206.4 km in Kazakhstan and 19.3 km in the Kyrgyz Republic. Hazardous sections were repaired or rebuilt. To avoid further road degradation, both governments increased financing for road maintenance, outsourced periodic maintenance activities to the private sector, and implemented road safety initiatives.
At the Akzhol–Chu border, automated customs clearance and computerized cargo registration systems were introduced. Metal detectors, X-ray equipment, computers, and other equipment were installed. The project’s defining feature, however, was a cross-border agreement between the governments of Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic that instituted more effective border-crossing procedures. The agreement was signed and ratified in 2002.
Results
Average travel speed along the Almaty–Bishkek Road has increased, significantly reducing travel time. Freight rates and public transport fares have gone down. Traffic on the road has accordingly picked up, as has trade in goods between Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic, and new livelihoods and commercial enterprises have emerged along the road.
In 2014, the city administrations of Almaty and Bishkek agreed to develop the Almaty–Bishkek Economic Corridor as a pilot cross-border economic corridor within the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) program. The corridor will shorten the economic distance between the two cities by reducing travel time; creating one competitive market for health, education, and tourism services; and aggregating agricultural produce in wholesale markets to exploit the sector’s export potential. In 2017, ADB approved the Almaty–Bishkek Economic Corridor Support project to support the implementation of the corridor, following a multi-sector approach to create one economic space without barriers.