Asian Development Bank to appoint a new curator for Central and West Asia
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has appointed Werner Liepach as a new ADB Director General for Central and West Asia, the ADB official website informs. Prior to his appointment as Director General, Mr. Liepach was Deputy Director General and Senior Advisor in Central and West Asia Department. As Director General, Mr. Liepach will lead ADB’s engagement with 10 countries in the region, including Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. He will monitor the implementation of the entire ADB portfolio in the region, which currently stands for $18.6 billion and includes 155 projects. Mr. Liepach will manage such sector divisions as energy, environment, agriculture, transport, financial sector and trade, water development and others. It should be noted, that the new regional director got a vast “economy”. Alone is worth the project for the construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline, as ADB has acted as Transaction Advisor for the TAPI pipeline project since 2013. That is, the financial institution is the adviser of the project on financial and banking issues. In addition, representatives of the bank have stated repeatedly that ADB is ready to take financial part in the implementation of the project. The Asian Development Bank is longstanding reliable partner of Turkmenistan, and its support for the TAPI project is best indication of the prospectiveness and financial feasibility of the latter. About such world’s reputable financial institutions as ADB, one can say, they do not waste their breath. Experts believe that the TAPI gas pipeline will allow Turkmenistan to diversify its gas exports, Afghanistan will receive jobs and funds for the development of the social sphere and the growing economies of Pakistan and India will cover the energy deficit. Currently, preparations are underway for the TAPI construction ceremony at the territory of Afghanistan. The ceremony will be held at the Turkmen-Afghan border on February 23.
