Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09TASHKENT825
2009-05-27 12:21:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Tashkent
Cable title:
Asian Development Bank Eager to Move on Afghan Rail Line to
how-toVZCZCXRO3805 RR RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDBU RUEHIK RUEHLH RUEHNEH RUEHPOD RUEHPW RUEHYG DE RUEHNT #0825 1471220 ZNR UUUUU ZZH R 271221Z MAY 09 FM AMEMBASSY TASHKENT TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0935 INFO ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE NATO EU COLLECTIVE RHMFISS/CDR USTRANSCOM COMMAND SURGEON SCOTT AFB IL RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHINGTON DC RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC RUEHML/AMEMBASSY MANILA 0001 RUEHNT/AMEMBASSY TASHKENT RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
UNCLAS TASHKENT 000825
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA (DEUTSCH AND KROL)
MANILA FOR US DIRECTOR AT ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK
USAID FOR ACTING ADMINISTRATOR FULGHAM
FROM AMBASSADOR NORLAND
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON PREL PGOV PHUM ELTN UZ
SUBJECT: Asian Development Bank Eager to Move on Afghan Rail Line to
Mazar-e-sharif
REF: TASHKENT 717
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - PROTECT ACCORDINGLY
UNCLAS TASHKENT 000825
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA (DEUTSCH AND KROL)
MANILA FOR US DIRECTOR AT ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK
USAID FOR ACTING ADMINISTRATOR FULGHAM
FROM AMBASSADOR NORLAND
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON PREL PGOV PHUM ELTN UZ
SUBJECT: Asian Development Bank Eager to Move on Afghan Rail Line to
Mazar-e-sharif
REF: TASHKENT 717
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - PROTECT ACCORDINGLY
1. (SBU) On the margins of a May 22 economic conference in Tashkent
devoted to President Karimov's approach to the global economic
crisis, attended by numerous representatives of international
financial institutions, the Asian Development Bank's (ADB) Director
General for Central and West Asia, Juan Miranda, pulled Ambassador
aside to raise the issue of extending the rail line which currently
ends in Hairaton (just across the Uzbek border in Afghanistan) to
Mazar-e-sharif, 75 kilometers further into Afghanistan and on the
Ring Road. Miranda, who had just met with Uzbek First Deputy Prime
Minister Rustam Azimov, said ADB strongly supports extending the
rail line and is rushing "full speed ahead" to complete its
feasibility study by October. He expects the price tag for the
project to come in at around USD 80 million (less than the USD 120
million that one Uzbek Railways official estimated the project
might cost). He says the Uzbeks could build it, but he would want
American supervision. Regardless of who might get the contract, he
urged "lots of phone calls" to the ADB board of governors to keep
this project moving forward.
Comment
2. (SBU) As noted reftel, the rail extension to Mazar offers a
potentially transformational shift in regional transportation
infrastructure that could advance our goals in Afghanistan as well
as in linking Central and South Asia. The ADB supports the
project, as do the Uzbeks, who want the contract to build the
railroad but also hope to benefit economically once it is in place.
In a brief conversation on May 22, Deputy PM Azimov made clear to
the Ambassador that he would like the ADB to support this project
(it was he who put Miranda on to the Ambassador earlier in the
day). With U.S. capitalization of the ADB expected to double, and
USAID resources for Afghanistan also increasing significantly, this
project appears from our vantage point to offer a tangible and
realistic objective in support of our goals in the region. We
strongly encourage ADB and USAID support.
NORLAND
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA (DEUTSCH AND KROL)
MANILA FOR US DIRECTOR AT ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK
USAID FOR ACTING ADMINISTRATOR FULGHAM
FROM AMBASSADOR NORLAND
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON PREL PGOV PHUM ELTN UZ
SUBJECT: Asian Development Bank Eager to Move on Afghan Rail Line to
Mazar-e-sharif
REF: TASHKENT 717
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - PROTECT ACCORDINGLY
1. (SBU) On the margins of a May 22 economic conference in Tashkent
devoted to President Karimov's approach to the global economic
crisis, attended by numerous representatives of international
financial institutions, the Asian Development Bank's (ADB) Director
General for Central and West Asia, Juan Miranda, pulled Ambassador
aside to raise the issue of extending the rail line which currently
ends in Hairaton (just across the Uzbek border in Afghanistan) to
Mazar-e-sharif, 75 kilometers further into Afghanistan and on the
Ring Road. Miranda, who had just met with Uzbek First Deputy Prime
Minister Rustam Azimov, said ADB strongly supports extending the
rail line and is rushing "full speed ahead" to complete its
feasibility study by October. He expects the price tag for the
project to come in at around USD 80 million (less than the USD 120
million that one Uzbek Railways official estimated the project
might cost). He says the Uzbeks could build it, but he would want
American supervision. Regardless of who might get the contract, he
urged "lots of phone calls" to the ADB board of governors to keep
this project moving forward.
Comment
2. (SBU) As noted reftel, the rail extension to Mazar offers a
potentially transformational shift in regional transportation
infrastructure that could advance our goals in Afghanistan as well
as in linking Central and South Asia. The ADB supports the
project, as do the Uzbeks, who want the contract to build the
railroad but also hope to benefit economically once it is in place.
In a brief conversation on May 22, Deputy PM Azimov made clear to
the Ambassador that he would like the ADB to support this project
(it was he who put Miranda on to the Ambassador earlier in the
day). With U.S. capitalization of the ADB expected to double, and
USAID resources for Afghanistan also increasing significantly, this
project appears from our vantage point to offer a tangible and
realistic objective in support of our goals in the region. We
strongly encourage ADB and USAID support.
NORLAND