Two fundamental objectives underlied the strategic planning meeting:

  1. to provide strategic direction to the work of the Almaty-Bishkek Economic Corridor (ABEC) and
  2. to develop priority areas and a set of plans for project work to be undertaken over 2017-18.

In fulfilling these objectives, the meeting ensured the optimum deployment of teams from Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic, supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and other development partners.

At the 13th CAREC Ministerial Conference in Bishkek, the city administrations of Almaty and Bishkek signed a memorandum of understanding to develop the ABEC. The corridor is an important pilot for regional cooperation and economic corridors under the CAREC program.

A Joint Working Group (JWG) comprising representatives from both national and city governments met four times to review and finalize the strategy underlying the corridor as well as analytical studies in agriculture and agribusiness, tertiary education, tertiary health, disaster risk management, tourism, information and communications technology integration, spatial planning, and transport.

The JWG finalized the Almaty-Bishkek Corridor Initiative (ABCI) Investment Framework, a document which provided the conceptual development plan for the Almaty Bishkek Economic Corridor, outlining the scope of policy, institutional, infrastructure and capacity development initiatives that would be needed in the prioritized sectors.

In September 2016, the high-level Steering Committee for ABCI endorsed the investment framework, which was subsequently presented to the 15th CAREC Ministerial Conference.

(Click here to learn more about CAREC Economic Corridor Development initiative.)

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