TBILISI, GEORGIA, May 2 -- border collaboration and reforming trade policies in Central Asia and its neighbors can cut the carbon footprint of trade and value chains-a growing source of emissions in one of the world's most energy-intensive regions for manufacturing, officials from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said at the bank's 57th Annual Meeting on Thursday.

"Harmonizing policies and standards through the ADB-supported Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Program can help to increase trade while making supply chains less carbon-intensive and more resilient," said ADB Director General for Central and West Asia Yevgeniy Zhukov.

While trade has significantly propelled economic growth and development, it has also increas...