KAZAKHSTAN:Asian Development Bank (ADB) Vice-President Mr. Shixin Chen reaffirmed ADB’s commitment to further strengthen its partnership with Kazakhstan on his visit to the country from 14-18 May.
Chen, who was on his first visit to Kazakhstan as ADB Vice-President, met with Prime Minister Mr. Askar Mamin; Minister of National Economy Mr. Ruslan Dalenov; Minister of Industry and Infrastructure Development Mr. Roman Sklyar; First Vice-Minister of Energy Mr. Makhambet Dosmukhambetov; and other high-level officials to discuss ADB’s ongoing and future cooperation with Kazakhstan.
“This year marks 25 years of close development partnership between Kazakhstan and ADB,” Mr. Chen said. “We are proud to support Kazakhstan to help it achieve its sustainable development goals and stand ready to provide further support to the country through investment projects, technical assistance, and knowledge work to help it become a more diversified and inclusive economy.”
Chen assured officials of ADB’s commitment to remain a dependable partner of Kazakhstan, responding flexibly to the country’s evolving needs. ADB’s ongoing Country Partnership Strategy for Kazakhstan aims at promoting economic diversification, inclusive growth, and sustainable development, fostering private sector development, and improving regional connectivity through the Central Asian Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) program.
Chen also participated in several sessions of the Astana Economic Forum where he spoke about the importance of balancing infrastructure investments with debt sustainability, the role of infrastructure in promoting inclusive growth, ADB’s work on promoting the Sustainable Development Goals, and strengthening regional cooperation and integration through the development of CAREC economic corridors and the cooperation among existing and new programs, such as CAREC, the Belt and Road Initiative, and others. Mr. Chen also visited a school supported by ADB-funded project and met with project beneficiaries in Nur-Sultan.
Since joining ADB in 1994, Kazakhstan has received over $5.1 billion in sovereign and nonsovereign loans, guarantees, and technical assistance for agriculture and irrigation, education, finance, transport, energy, water supply, and sanitation.
ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. In 2018, it made commitments of new loans and grants amounting to $21.6 billion. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members – 49 from the region.