In the past week, Spanish subsidiary EPTISA won a bid for an AIIB backed project linked to the “One Belt and One Road” initiative. The project in question is a borderrestoration project to take place between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The project is owned by the Ministry of Transport of Tajikistan, whilst the financing is coming from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Development Bank.
      The project aims to repair the important passage linking Tajikistan and Uzbekistan from south to north. Due to the poor road conditions in and the negative impact this had had on cross border cargo transportation and trade between the two countries, it becomes the one of the first projects approved after the establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment and Development Bank. EPTISA will provide support, management and monitoring of environmental impact for project implementation, support for project team administration and management, construction supervision of the M41 section, supervision of design work, road safety audit, and issuance of the completion report for this and the project will last for 36 months.
      Tajikistan is known for its “mountainous scenery”, as 90% of the country is in mountainous regions. However, many roads are in disrepair and have been so a number of years, making transport a challenge and one that restricts the economic development of the country. The public road repair project will improve road access conditions of this region, shortening the time of travel and significantly reducing the cost of transport between the two countries, and increasing the overall transport capacity of Tajikistan. While continuously improving the level of transport infrastructure in Tajikistan, the project will also further promote the “One Belt and One Road” construction and accelerate the interconnection between China and Central Asia.