Asian Development Bank increases Tajik aid: The ADB has agreed to increase the level of its Tajik assistance programme by $20m to $79m this year, raising its full year planned assistance program to $79m, it announced this week. The 2015 programme will focus on the development of the private sector, railways and water resources and the strengthening of the investment climate, with some $20m being used to boost the quality and efficiency of the country’s technical and vocational education system. The ADB is also preparing a $30m project to improve water resource management and to strengthen the climate resilience in the Chubek irrigation area. Since Tajikistan became a party to the ADB in 1998, the bank has been responsible for extending the country approximately $1.3bn in concessional loans, grants and technical assistance. Times of Central Asia