08/09/2003 (Agence Europe) - 50 million EUR have been made available by the European Commission under the action programme Tacis, to benefit the countries of central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan) in 2003. The money will help to fund various regional co-operation projects (repairing gas pipes, environmental strategies, border management, fighting drugs trafficking, refitting the railways…), national reform projects (updating administration, governance...) and poverty reduction programmes. The European Union, with a contribution of over one billion EUR since 1991, under various programmes (Tacis, humanitarian aid, food safety, loans) is one of the region's largest donors.