Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana Leading thinkers from the world over gather at the Astana Economic Forum this week. Their focus is on the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and how it should shape long-term economic growth and social development strategies in Kazakhstan and central Asia. As international best practice and practical solutions are considered, […]
UNECE and FAO debut first ever report on forest reserves in Central Asia and Caucasus
Elvira Kadyrova Cumulative forests and other wooded lands of the eight countries of the Caucasus and Central Asia cover more than 30 million ha, which is the size of Italy. Forests in the Caucasus occupy less than 15 per cent of the territory, and in Central Asia less than 10 per cent. The “State of […]
Emperor Naruhito of Japan – Very special relevance to Central Asia
nCa Commentary Emperor Naruhito ascended the Chrysanthemum Throne of Japan on 1 May 2019. His father, the Emperor Emeritus Akihito abdicated a day earlier. After ascending the throne, Emperor Naruhito made a short speech, promising to stay the course set by his father: “I have hereby succeeded to the Throne pursuant to the Constitution of […]
Central Asian countries discussed cooperation to combat drug trafficking
Elvira Kadyrova On 3 May 2019, Tashkent hosted 11thministerial meeting of the States Parties to the Memorandum of Understanding on Sub-regional drug control cooperation in Central Asia. The following key speakers attended the gathering: Sergey Lavrov, minister of foreign affairs of the Russian Federation Sirozhiddin Muhriddin, minister of foreign affairs of Tajikistan Mukhtar Tleuberdi, 1st […]
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan offer new opportunities to unlock the economic potential of Central Asia
Elvira Kadyrova In mid-April, during the official visit of the President of Kazakhstan to Tashkent, the authorized agencies of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan signed a Memorandum on the establishment of the International center for trade and economic cooperation “Central Asia”. The head of the Department for international cooperation of the Ministry of national economy of Kazakhstan […]
Experts met in Kazan to discuss development aspects of Central Asia
Elvira Kadyrova On 26 April, the Institute of International Relations of Kazan Federal University hosted a round table on “Geopolitics, economics and security in Central Asia”, reported KFU’s student TV station Univer TV. The meeting on priority issues of development of Central Asian-Russian cooperation was organized by the Institute for Central Asian studies. The list […]
Central Asia and BRI could open opportunities for ‘combining efforts’ between Russia and China
Elvira Kadyrova Ambassador of Russia to China has called for more close integration between Chinese Belt and Road Initiative and main economic and security blocks in Central Asia, such as SCO and Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union. China’s engagement in Central Asia was mainly economic. Rather than a threat, Russia regards Beijing as a force to […]
Regional cooperation on shared water resources in Central Asia
On the eve of the upcoming summit of the leaders of the countries of Central Asia in Tashkent, it is possible to say with confidence what will be one of the main topics of the meeting. The heads of the five Asian states need to find a joint solution to the problems of using transboundary […]
ADB forecasts moderate growth in Central Asia in near-term outlook
Elvira Kadyrova The growth in Central Asian will decelerate in 2019 after pick up in 2018, according to Asian Development Outlook-2019, ADB’s flagship report. Average growth in the sub-region [comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan] rose from 4.2% in 2017 to 4.4% last year is projected to slow down […]
‘Water Diplomacy’ highlighted in telephone conversation between presidents of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
nCa Commentary The presidents of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan had a telephone conversation on Tuesday (26 February 2019). They discussed the preparations for the summit meeting of the Central Asian heads of state that will take place in Tashkent on 12 April 2019. In their conversation, President Berdymuhamedov and President Mirziyoyev focused on ‘water diplomacy,’ an […]