ADB president expects slower growth in Central Asia in 2014

The Central Asia will see slower economic growth this year due to the economic stagnation of countries outside the region, President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Takehiko Nakao said here Thursday.
The economy of Central Asia as a whole will rise 5.5 percent this year, down from 6.5 percent in 2013, said the president in a press conference of the 13th ministerial conference of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC).
"The crisis has reinforced the concern that uncertainty and low economic growth in developed countries could become the norm," said Nakao.
The CAREC program is an ADB-supported initiative. Launched in 2001, the program aims to encourage economic cooperation among countries in Central Asia.
The program promotes regional cooperation in transport, energy, trade facilitation, and other key sectors of mutual interest among the 10 member countries, namely Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, China, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.