Enhancing Regional Health Cooperation Under Carec 2030

This study explores the potential and opportunities for promoting regional cooperation in the health sector as an operational priority in the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Strategy 2030. It specifically reviews the burden of communicable and noncommunicable diseases and their risk factors, along with the progress and challenges in health systems development in the CAREC region. Based on the assessment, the study recommends strengthening regional health security; developing health systems through regional cooperation; and improving health services for migrants, mobile populations, and border communities.

The CAREC Health Strategy 2030 aims to enhance health security through regional cooperation, benefiting the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) region’s population (including migrants and vulnerable population groups), health system managers and workers, and active development partners; and CAREC countries’ ministries of health. The strategy has four main pillars: (i) leadership and human resource capacity, (ii) technical preparedness, (iii) surge demands and access to supplies, and (iv) vulnerable population groups and border health. It is intended as a tool to guide CAREC health cooperation, dialogue and knowledge exchange, programming and mobilize new project financing.

It suggests this could be done through the identification of opportunities for enhancing and expanding cooperation among member countries in the tourism sector and by maximizing economic opportunities while safeguarding ecosystems. Promoting cooperation in the tourism sector is one of the operational priorities under the CAREC 2030 Strategy. Tourism is also recognized as an effective way of helping developing countries take part in the global economy and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Transport Strategy 2030 builds on progress made and lessons learned from the CAREC Transport and Trade Facilitation Strategy 2020. It separates trade facilitation from transport and links to the overall CAREC 2030 program in the areas of enhanced connectivity and sustainability. This strategy underscores increasing sustainability and network quality alongside continued construction and rehabilitation of transport corridors, and places more emphasis on multimodal connectivity, road asset management, road safety, and performance-based maintenance goals. The CAREC Transport Strategy 2030 will be implemented in conjunction with the CAREC Integrated Trade Agenda 2030.

This book reviews progress with regional cooperation and integration in Asia and the Pacific and explores how it can be reshaped to achieve a more resilient, sustainable, and inclusive future. Consisting of papers contributed by renowned scholars and Asian Development Bank staff, the book covers four major areas: public goods, trade and investment, financial cooperation, and regional health cooperation. The book emphasizes how the region can better leverage regional integration to realize its vast potential as well as overcome challenges such as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

Providing an authoritative yet accessible introduction to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), this comprehensive Companion offers a detailed examination of the ADB’s objectives, policies, development outcomes, strengths and weaknesses, areas for reform, and challenges going forward.

This publication discusses how the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Program (CAREC) can enhance trade by addressing key challenges, including poor market access, limited economic diversification, and weak institutions for trade. CAREC's new trade strategy leverages on the successes of past CAREC trade work built on mutual trust and collective efforts. It is designed to foster deepened regional cooperation and integration. The CAREC Program is a partnership of 11 countries---Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Pakistan, the People's Republic of China, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan---to promote development and lead to accelerated growth and poverty reduction.