Other News
07 Aug 2019
OED IsDB and IED ADB Joined Forces to Evaluate Road Segments Funded by IsDB and ADB in Kazakhstan
The Operations Evaluation Department (OED) of the Islamic Development Bank and the Independent Evaluation Department (IED) of the Asian Development Bank undertook a joint mission to Republic of Kazakhstan from July 29th to August 2nd, 2019, to evaluate the road segments of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Transport Corridor 1 funded by the two institutions. The Corridor overlaps with Kazakhstan’s Western Europe–Western People’s Republic of China international transit corridor.
The CAREC Transport Corridor 1 road program funded by the two institutions was intended to improve the conditions of the existing roads by upgrading sections of the highway to four-lane carriageway and reconstructing new roads in order to efficiently accommodate international traffic. Considering Kazakhstan is one of the world’s most cargo-intensive countries, the project focused on developing an efficient transport system to improve road efficiency and safety, particularly in Zhambyl Province. The combined cost of the project was US$ 1.270 Billion, out of which, ADB contributed US$ 1.1 Billion for 414.6 km of the road, with IsDB providing US$ 170 million for 58.1 km of the road.
The joint evaluation mission examined project formulation, design, implementation, and sustainability, and assessed project performance taking into account results achieved since project completion. It also intended to assess the development impact of the project as well as performance of stakeholders including the ADB and the IsDB, the government of Kazakhstan and the executing agency. The evaluation exercise also aimed at drawing relevant lessons from the project experiences and formulating recommendations to improve similar future interventions in the concerned sector of the two institutions.
