Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) Fourth Phase of the Central Asia Regional Links Program (P166820)

As such, Phase 3 and the proposed Phase 4 aim to increase the physical cross‐border links of regional importance in the region, while reducing operational constraints and creating market opportunities for the development of trade and tourism at the regional level to reap the benefits of the full development potential of the oblasts. [...] Through the upgrading of the Customs ICT system, the project will help streamline and rationalize processes and procedures at the border and to provide a platform for the application of a range of internationally agreed norms and standards, many of which are incorporated in the Government of Tajikistan’s Medium-Term Program for Customs Development. [...] It is situated in the southwest of the country, between the Hisor (Gissar) Range in the north and the Panj River in the south and borders Afghanistan in the southeast and Uzbekistan in the west. [...] Kanibadam is bordered on the south by the city of Isfara, on the north by the Asht district, on the western-east by the Kyrgyz Republic, and on the north-east by the Republic of Uzbekistan. [...] The construction of a bridge bypassing the center of the city of Khorog is of strategic importance, since upon completion it will provide reliable uninterrupted year-round communication of the republican center of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region and further with the PRC.