📋 Tender Overview
Project Name
Almaty–Bishkek Economic Corridor Regional Improvement of Border Services Project
Project Number
54439-001
Country / Economy
Kyrgyz Republic
Project Status
Proposed
Project Type / Modality of Assistance
Grant
Loan
Source of Funding / Amount
Grant: Almaty"Bishkek Economic Corridor Regional Improvement of Border Services Project Readiness
Asian Development Fund US$ 15.68 million
Loan: Almaty"Bishkek Economic Corridor Regional Improvement of Border Services Project
Concessional ordinary capital resources lending US$ 15.01 million
Sector / Subsector
Transport / Road transport (non-urban)
Gender
Some gender elements
Description
The project will build and equip 3 climate-resilient and energy-efficient border crossing points (BCP) between the Kyrgyz Republic and Kazakhstan on the Kyrgyz side of the border and a training center for the Kyrgyz Border Service (the project EA). The project with the total loan and grant financing of $37 Million will help facilitate trade and tourism between the Kyrgyz Republic and Kazakhstan and will contribute to the sustainable economic development along the Almaty-Bishkek Economic Corridor.
Project Rationale and Linkage to Country/Regional Strategy
The Kyrgyz Republic is characterized as a small and open economy, with trade to gross domestic product ratio at 124% in 2023. In 2015, the country joined the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia and adopted its trade rules and procedures. Nevertheless, cross-border time and cost at the key Kazakh-Kyrgyz border crossing points (BCPs) remain high after 2015. The country strives to improve its physical and digital infrastructure to facilitate the smooth movement of goods, people, and investment capital across borders. The midterm development plan emphasizes the full economic recovery after the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and sets the goal for the average economic growth of at least 5% per year until 2026. The plan prioritizes improving transit flows of export and import goods through neighboring countries, strengthening border control procedures, infrastructure, facilities, and technologies to facilitate smooth and safe crossing of the national borders by persons and goods.
In 2014, the Kyrgyz Republic and Kazakhstan, supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), launched the AlmatyBishkek Economic Corridor (ABEC) development program to foster shared economic development of the two largest city agglomerations in the ABEC region. The ABEC program conducted several studies of the BCP infrastructure and procedures between Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic. The studies helped identify issues with the cross-border movement of people and goods and outline possible responses within the scope of the ABEC program. The ABEC program consultants estimated that due to long border delays at the BCP Ak-Tilek alone, the Kyrgyz Republic lose $9 million a year of export trade to Kazakhstan and the same amo
