Central Asian countries have adopted the Bishkek Declaration and approved three new joint projects at the week of the UN Special Programme for the Economies of Central Asia (SPECA) in Bishkek, reported Avesta.tj, citing UN News.
The new projects are financed through the SPECA Multi-Partner Trust Fund, with contributions from Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. They cover:
- dam safety, carried out by the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the UN Development Programme;
- more efficient multimodal transport, including routes of the Trans-Caspian corridor;
- the green economy: simpler trade procedures, resilient agriculture and support for small businesses.
The fund now supports six projects. No amounts were disclosed.
“United Nations norms and standards can help attract investment in infrastructure,” UNECE Executive Secretary Tatiana Molcean said. She named multilateral development banks and the European Union among potential investors. Uzbekistan will chair SPECA in 2027.
Dam safety is a pressing regional issue. Many of Central Asia’s dams and reservoirs date from the Soviet era. Tajikistan is building Rogun, set to be the world’s tallest dam, and Kyrgyzstan is preparing Kambarata-1. Downstream Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan rely on these rivers for irrigation, so joint safety standards and data exchange are increasingly seen as essential for regional stability.
CentralasianLIGHT.org,
November 12, 2026