Senior officials of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Program will meet on 7-8 September in Manila.

Delegations from the eight participating countries – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Mongolia and China - that comprise CAREC will attend.

CAREC is a pragmatic, results-oriented program established by the abovementioned eight companies and six multilateral institutions – ADB, EBRD, International Monetary Fund, Islamic Development Bank, UNDP and the World Bank - in 1997 that seeks to promote development through cooperation, leading to accelerated economic growth and poverty reduction.

In 2006-2008, multilateral donors plan to extend 42 loans for over US$2.3 billion to CAREC to support regional investments in the spheres of transportation, energy and trade.