ADB summarizes activities in Azerbaijan

/By AzerNews/

By Aynur Jafarova

The Azerbaijan Resident Mission of the Asian Development Bank has summarized its activities in the country during 2014.

Speaking at the event Olly Norojono, Country Director of ADB in Azerbaijan appreciated the excellent work of Azerbaijan.

“We are pleased that our ongoing active portfolio in public sector of more than $1.2 billion for eight projects is being executed well by the Government. In 2014, the government awarded contracts worth of $231 million, 120 percent of the target. ADB disbursed $161 million or about 90 percent of the target,” he noted.

Year 2014 marked 15th anniversary of ADB–Azerbaijan partnership. The government will host ADB Annual Meeting in Baku in May 2015 with about 3,000 delegates and guests expected to participate.

ADB continued its operations mainly in the transport, energy, and urban water supply and sanitation sectors. In September 2014, ADB approved Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) for 2014–2018.

The new CPS will prioritize transport, energy, and urban services. It will also emphasize inclusive growth, private sector operations, private sector development and private-public partnership, regional cooperation, gender equity, governance and capacity development, environmental sustainability and climate change, partnership, and knowledge solutions as strategic agendas and drivers of change.

In addition, ADB will identify possible future intervention including energy efficiency, insurance and leasing, education, and agriculture and natural resources management. The CPS is translated into country operations business plans (COBPs). The COBP for 2015–2017 is still under review by the government.

In 2014, ADB approved a $45 million loan to reconstruct bridges and rehabilitate local roads in the Ganja-Gazakh region and a $250 million loan to finance construction of a new motorway between Jalilabad and Shorsulu. ADB also approved technical assistant grants in the total amount of about $4.5 million in the areas of microfinance, urban transport, solid waste management, and power sector.

ADB also provided extensive capacity building for government officials, academia, and civil society organizations in Azerbaijan and abroad in various subjects including urban transport, climate change, loan products, risk management, social and environment safeguards, water resource management, anticorruption, accountability mechanism, role of civil society organizations, project management, regional connectivity, transport forum, and CAREC events.

ADB, based in Manila, is dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration. Established in 1966, it is owned by 67 members—48 from the region. In 2013, ADB assistance totaled $21 billion, including cofinancing of $6.6 billion.