The Asian Development Bank is loaning $29.5 million US dollars to Tajikistan for the construction of a highway that will link Dushanbe with Kyrgyzstan. The Tajikistan government will fund the remaining $9.5 million for the road project. This construction is part of a larger plan that will ultimately link to China, Russia, Afghanistan, and Uzbekistan as well.

Combined with the notional free trade zone, this project could actually do a lot to help trade and prosperity in a region where road quality is a very real impediment to trade. It should also have the added effect of linking families and clans split by national borders.

On the other hand, Tajiks and Kyrgyz don’t always play nicely together. The Kyrgyz News Agency reported today that Tajiks are illegally seizing property in the border region of Batken (although it would be interesting to hear the Tajik side of it). Too bad too, because the region was only just declared landmine-free a few weeks ago. Tajikistan had mined the border between 1999 and 2000 “to stave off incursions by Islamic militants who reportedly wanted to penetrate the country,” according to a Reuters article.

Petty border disputes notwithstanding, it appears that significant improvements are being made to facilitate free trade and movements of people in the region. Assuming progress keeps being made, this can only be beneficial for Tajikistan.