MANILA, Dec. 20 (Xinhua)-- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide Uzbekistan with a 75.3-million-U.S. dollar loan to upgrade a key highway that is an integral part of a regional transport corridor across Central Asia, the bank said on Thursday.

    The move comes a month after eight countries in and around Central Asia agreed to an 18-billion-dollar strategy to improve roads, airports, railways, and ports to make the region a vital transit route for trade between Europe and Asia, a modern-day equivalent of the ancient Silk Road.

    The new loan will be used to upgrade the A-380 highway, a 1,204kilometer road that runs from the Kazakh border in Uzbekistan's north toward Afghanistan and Turkmenistan in the south.

    "Upgrading the road will cut travel times and reduce transport costs," said Olly Norojono, a Transport Economist with ADB.

    "This highway is essential for enhancing regional integration and economic growth in Central Asia," the economist added.

    Part of the loan will also be used to help the Government of Uzbekistan strengthen the operation and maintenance of the country's road network by improving road-sector institutions, planning and budgeting, as well as the provision of road-building equipment, ADB said.

    Insufficient maintenance in the past has led to the deterioration of roads. While the government has made progress in fixing the problem, the budget for maintaining primary roads has not been sufficient, the lender added.

    The strategy to invest in transport corridors in and around Central Asia was agreed at a meeting in Dushanbe on Nov. 3 of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Program, which is sponsored by ADB. In addition to Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, and Tajikistan have agreed to the strategy.