ADB, OFID help finance Tajikistan road project
The Asian Development Bank has granted $110 million to Tajikistan to construct 30km of a highway and 30km of secondary roads between the towns of Obigarm and Nurobod in the country’s northeast.
The Obigarm–Nurobod road is part of Corridors 2, 3, and 5 of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Program that links Tajikistan to Eurasian and global markets. The road connects the capital Dushanbe to the northeast region of Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic.
The construction of the 75km long highway has been divided into three sections. ADB and the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) will co-finance a 30km long section from Obigarm to Tagikamar, including two tunnels of a total length of 3.3km, which will cost about $178 million. The government has also applied for loan financing from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development for the construction of the remaining sections of the 75km highway.
The new highway will replace the existing road which will cease operation to make way for a hydroelectric dam currently under construction. The highway will be completed before the existing road is decommissioned as the only alternative route would entail a deviation of about 320km.
The highway will be climate-resilient and built to international road safety standards.
