Almaty, December 9, 2011. Experts from the World Bank (WB) and the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) held their first joint conference today in Almaty on economic developments and prospects of EurAsEC countries.
The conference focused on the impact of current global developments on the EurAsEC countries, integration trends in the CIS and the EurAsEC, and issues of employment and migration in the region. It was organized in line with the Implementation Plan of the Framework Cooperation Agreement for
2011-2013 between the WB and the EDB, which was signed in October 2011. The plan includes four areas of work:
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The exchange of analysis and economic forecasts for the EDB member states;
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Joint preparation and implementation of projects with significant anti-crisis potential, particularly in the infrastructure and power sectors;
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Support to regional cooperation in trade, investment, and labour migration; and
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Strengthening the capacity of the Anti-Crisis Fund of the EurAsEC for macroeconomic monitoring and modelling, analysis of the countries’ debt sustainability, public finance management, project monitoring and evaluation, procurement rules and methods, and environmental and social protection strategies.
“This conference has outlined the outcomes of the two development institutions’ work in 2011 and the plans for their cooperation in 2012. The World Bank is the largest global development institution and the Eurasian Development Bank is a fast-growing regional development bank,” said Sergey Shatalov, Deputy Chairman of the EDB Executive Board. “The parties’ intentions to develop cooperation in the sphere of the anti-crisis stimulation of the economies of their member states have grown into a constructive discussion. Its conclusions will be useful for our organisations to better understand the tasks the countries of the region face and will be taken into account in our practice in order to more efficiently use the resources we allocate to develop and modernise the economies of our member states.”
The Framework Cooperation Agreement between the World Bank and the Eurasian Development Bank was signed in March 2011.
Additional Information
The World Bank, founded in 1944, is one of the world’s largest sources of development assistance. Currently, the Bank is present in 124 developing countries and economies in transition, and provides both financial assistance and advice to raise living standards and improve the life of the world’s poor. For more information visit: www.worldbank.org and www.worldbank.org.kz.
The Eurasian Development Bank is an international financial institution founded by Russia and Kazakhstan in January 2006 with the mission to facilitate the development of market economies, sustainable economic growth and the expansion of trade and other economic ties in its member states. The EDB’s charter capital exceeds US $1.5 billion. The member states of the Bank are the Russian Federation, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Republic of Tajikistan, the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus and the Kyrgyz Republic. Read more at https://www.eabr.org
The EurAsEC Anti-Crisis Fund (ACF) amounting to US$8.513 billion was formed on 9 June 2009 by the governments of six countries: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan. The objectives of the ACF are to assist the member countries in overcoming the consequences of global financial crisis, ensure their economic and financial stability, and foster integration processes in the region. The ACF member countries signed the Management Agreement with the Eurasian Development Bank giving the EDB the role of the ACF Manager.
