Uzbekistan: Tashkent Commits to Develop Key East-West Highway

A $2.6 billion project to rehabilitate a key highway linking Uzbekistan with Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and China is underway.

The Beyneu-Kungrad-Bukhara-Samarkand-Tashkent-Andijan road is part of the country's main east-west transport corridor and Uzbek officials say it could increase international and domestic traffic by 60 percent. The Uzbek government is reportedly coming up with $1.68 billion of the necessary funding. The remainder will be financed via the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and Asian Development Bank, news agencies reported March 25.

The project involves more than 18 large bridges and 300 overpasses and is the latest in a line of infrastructure projects to be revived in the Central Asian region. The almost 1,500-kilometer-long highway project is expected to be completed by 2015.