Reinvigorating Regional Cooperation Tender

Technical assistanceThe regional knowledge and support technical assistance ta will enable the economies of caucasus and central asia cca to assess the demand for new forms and directions of regional cooperation in light of the implications of the russian invasion of ukraine and conflicts in the region by i systematically collecting additional information on the related socioeconomic developments ii analyzing regional trade flows and iii reviewing alternative transit options. all three ta outputs will include policy recommendations for the asian development bank adb and the cca governments as well as the production of policy briefs and other publications or reports that will be accessible online.Spillovers of recent shocks on the region. the russian invasion of ukraine and regional conflicts in 2022 produced multiple political economic and social spillovers on the cca economies. the implications for cca include high inflation supply chain disruptions reorientation of trade flows the emergence or increase of re-exports to the russian federation changing patterns in labor and other international migration. some of these spillovers had positive effects on the cca economies e.g. large-scale re-exports of goods to the russian federation inflow of russian migrants and associated growth in exports of travel hotel rental financial and other services to this economy and relocation of businesses from the russian federation to many economies in the cca. contrary to initial expectations most countries of the region appeared to become net beneficiaries of these changes demonstrating good economic growth rates in 2022. however many negative effects e.g. supply chain disruptions higher trade costs high inflation and damage to the investment climate from a general level of uncertainty and increased risk perceptions are likely to be lasting while some positive effects inflow of skilled russian migrants and their capital and part of re-exports may be fading away. the cca economies may face many social and economic development challenges in the long term.the response to these challenges would imply finding new trade partners and investment sources reducing trade costs restructuring value chains and accommodating many other actions by the governments societies and companies in the region. most cca countries are members of the carec program which serves as a flexible and effective platform for regional cooperation in the region. strengthening and reinvigorating regional cooperation under carec will be crucial in the new context para. 3. based on this carec and other regional stakeholders may then review and adjust the existing and added channels of cooperation to meet the new challenges.scarce and fragmented data on the shock impacts. the new context requires the systematic collection of additional information on any developments related to the russian invasion of ukraine that are not sufficiently reflected