In late 1999, the country had over 32,000 SMEs, accounting for about 8 percent of total employment. However, the sector's contribution to GDP has fallen due to constraints in the legal and regulatory system, management, finance, marketing skills and access to credit, particularly foreign exchange. The ADB loan will come from its ordinary capital resources and is repayable over 15 years, including a grace period of three years. The Government will relend the loan proceeds in US dollars to the three participating banks with terms and conditions identical to ADB's terms and conditions. The participating banks will be the executing agencies for the project, which is scheduled for completion in March 2006.
Railways are the country's backbone.
Internally, some 5.5 million people from the four affected provinces will have better access to economic opportunities. Better transport will also expand tourism to historic cities such as Bukhara and Samarkand on the famed Silk Route. The project will provide equipment for track laying and maintenance, install fiber-optic telecommunication systems, develop human resources, strengthen institutions, and establish a revolving fund for former railway employees to start up small businesses. Together with another ongoing ADB-assisted rail project, this project will complete improvement of 800km of the main railway route from Keles bordering Kazakhstan to Khodjadavlet, near the border with Turkmenistan. Uzbekistan's strategic location makes it ideal for transporting goods by land from East Asia to Europe.