The China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) will help fund an expressway running from Tajikistan’s capital to the border with Uzbekistan and a ring road in Almaty, Kazakhstan, the Financial Times reported on April 19.
China became a stakeholder in the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) earlier this year and the AIIB will supplement funds to EBRD-funded projects in Central Asia. China has been investing heavily in Central Asian infrastructure in the past few years and the bank’s involvement in these projects is in line with the Chinese government’s wider efforts.
“In Tajikistan the AIIB will join the ADB and EBRD in helping fund a road between the country’s capital, Dushanbe, and Tursunzoda on the Uzbekistan border,” the Financial Times said, adding that “the AIIB is expected to help fund is the Bakad Ring Road, a joint World Bank-EBRD project in Kazakhstan’s commercial capital, Almaty”.
These projects will “receive preliminary approval from the AIIB’s investment committee before the end of this month”, the Financial Times said, citing “two people familiar with the process, followed by a formal go-ahead from the bank’s board in June”.
China and dozens of Asian and European countries formally launched the $100bn AIIB in January.
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