ISLAMABAD: Asian Development Bank has allocated $5 billion for the implementation of Strategy 2030 under the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC).

The CAREC is an 11-member regional platform that aims to connect people, policies and projects for shared and sustainable development.

Investments in member-countries under the CAREC have amounted to more than $30bn since 2001. The new strategy was approved at the CAREC ministerial conference held in Dushanbe last month.

Pakistan has assured CAREC that it will mobilise all possible resources to improve and develop regional connectivity as outlined in the new strategy.

Speaking at its launch, Economic Affairs Division Secretary Arif Ahmed Khan said history of connectivity in the Central Asian region and the subcontinent is linked through the Silk Route.

The CAREC focal person in Pakistan, Syed Mujtaba Hussain, encouraged all government agencies to submit practical and viable project proposals.

Strategy 2030 offers a long-term strategic framework for the CAREC. CAREC 2030 aligns its activities with national strategies and development plans, and with the new international development agenda embodied in the sustainable development goals and the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21) global climate agreement.

CAREC 2030 will embrace areas, such as resilient infrastructure development, natural capital and the environment, sustainable urbanisation and inclusive social development.

Published in Dawn, December 5th, 2017