China will provide more assistance to Central Asian countries
under a regional economic cooperation programme to promote poverty
reduction and economic development in the area, said Chinese
Finance Minister Jin Renqing.
In particular, China will push ahead human resource cooperation
among the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Programme
(CAREC) member countries, Jin said in an interview with China
Daily.
"And China is ready to extend, along with other international
financial institutions, financial assistance to the (human resource
development) project," Jin said.
Initiated by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in 1997 as a
regional economic co-operation mechanism, CAREC's overriding goal
is to alleviate poverty and spur economic development in its member
countries through more efficient and effective regional economic
collaboration.
Besides China, CAREC currently has seven other member countries
Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia,
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Russia has observer status.
Jin spoke ahead of the fifth CAREC Ministerial Conference, which
will open tomorrow in Urumqi, the capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
At a meeting of CAREC senior officials held in August, China
proposed an overall enhancement of the role it plays in member
countries, which was endorsed by all participants. Jin said that
this topic will feature prominently during the ministerial
meeting.
"China is now considering providing financial assistance to the
initiative for its implementation," said Jin, who will chair
tomorrow's meeting.
The conference is expected to discuss and adopt a Comprehensive
Action Plan, which will serve as guidelines for the strategic
management of CAREC-initiated cooperation projects in various
fields, said Jin.
CAREC is likely to expand its cooperation beyond its current
priority areas to other fields such as environmental protection,
AIDS prevention and control, and bird-flu epidemic prevention, said
the finance minister.
CAREC currently focuses on financing infrastructure and
improving the region's policy environment in terms of transport,
trade facilitation, trade policy, and energy.
Jin said that the ministerial meeting, which will also involve
delegates from the World Bank, the United Nations Development
Programme, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and
the International Monetary Fund, is also expected to adopt the
Urumqi Declaration, reaffirming member countries' commitment to
regional co-operation and agreeing directions for future
cooperation.
The minister stressed that CAREC should stick to its principle
of conducting equal consultation among members and its
non-political policy.
"Regional diversity must be respected and cooperation should
always comes first," Jin emphasized.
"Meanwhile, CAREC should maintain its transparency and openness
and cooperate with other development institutions to address
regional development issues," Jin said.
For example, CAREC has started to work with the Shanghai
Cooperation Organization in the fields of transportation, trade and
other areas of mutual concern, said Jin, noting that this
cooperation has achieved good results.
Regarding China's involvement in CAREC, Jin said the country is
and will remain an active participant.
"The Chinese Government has always attached great importance to
and actively participated in CAREC initiatives," the finance
minister said, pointing to a series of activities that China has
undertaken so far.
(China Daily October 19, 2006)