central asia How do you like them apples? Central Asia gets ready to help feed the world -- by Dorothea Lazaro, Loreli de Dios By blogs.adb.org Published On :: Fri, 21 Jun 2019 09:29:08 +0800 Central Asia is improving food safety measures to share with the world some of the more than 8000 plant species, as well as livestock, from the region. Full Article
central asia It’s time for Central Asia to do whatever it takes to minimize the pandemic’s economic impact -- by Lilia Aleksanyan, Werner E. Liepach By blogs.adb.org Published On :: Fri, 24 Apr 2020 16:45:26 +0800 Bold action is required by policymakers and central bankers to keep the region’s economies afloat and contain the pandemic. Full Article
central asia Central Asian countries are moving forward together to beat COVID-19 -- by Xinglan Hu, Kirthi Ramesh, Mariya Khatiwada Savchuk By blogs.adb.org Published On :: Tue, 05 May 2020 11:38:22 +0800 A forward-looking, regional approach is needed for countries in Central Asia to respond to the pandemic and prepare for future public health threats. Full Article
central asia Trade Impact of Reducing Time and Costs at Borders in the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Region By www.adb.org Published On :: 2020-03-31 00:00:00 Trade facilitation, by reducing trade costs and raising the efficiency of moving goods across borders, is integral to international trade. Full Article
central asia Economic Integration in Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Member Countries: Financing Economic Corridors and Sovereign Bonds Market By www.adb.org Published On :: 2020-04-03 00:00:00 The global financial architecture should focus on providing short-term lending facilities to improve the efficiency of developing projects. Full Article
central asia Jihadists from Ex-Soviet Central Asia: Where Are They? Why Did They Radicalize? What Next? By www.belfercenter.org Published On :: Dec 7, 2018 Dec 7, 2018Thousands of radicals from formerly Soviet Central Asia have traveled to fight alongside IS in Syria and Iraq; hundreds more are in Afghanistan. Not counting the fighting in those three war-torn countries, nationals of Central Asia have been responsible for nearly 100 deaths in terrorist attacks outside their home region in the past five years. But many important aspects of the phenomenon need more in-depth study. This research paper attempts to answer four basic sets of questions: (1) Is Central Asia becoming a new source of violent extremism that transcends borders, and possibly continents? (2) If so, why? What causes nationals of Central Asia to take up arms and participate in political violence? (3) As IS has been all but defeated in Iraq and Syria, what will Central Asian extremists who have thrown in their lot with the terrorist group do next? And (4) do jihadists from Central Asia aspire to acquire and use weapons of mass destruction? If so, how significant a threat do they pose and who would be its likeliest targets? Full Article
central asia Connecting Central Asia to the world By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Mon, 09 Sep 2019 16:24:47 +0000 Over a period of about 500 years, from 750 A.D. to 1250 A.D., Central Asia produced some of the world’s finest minds and its workshops produced exquisite goods that were recognized and traded across Europe and Asia. During this period, Central Asia benefitted from being at the center of the Silk Road connecting East Asia… Full Article
central asia Encouraging transformations in Central Asia By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Fri, 13 Dec 2019 16:00:32 +0000 Nearly 30 years ago, the countries of Central Asia emerged from decades of Soviet domination. The rapid disintegration of production and trade linkages established in the Soviet Union led to deep recessions, with per capita incomes falling to about half of their pre-independence levels by the middle of the 1990s. In 1997, the private sector… Full Article
central asia CVE’s relevance and challenges: Central Asia as surprising snapshot By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Tue, 07 Jan 2020 20:01:50 +0000 Full Article
central asia Advancing financial inclusion in Southeast Asia, Central Asia, and the Middle East By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Wed, 16 Sep 2015 07:30:00 -0400 Editor’s Note: This blog post is part of a series on the 2015 Financial and Digital Inclusion Project (FDIP) Report and Scorecard, which were launched at a Brookings public event on August 26. Previous posts have highlighted five key findings from the 2015 FDIP Report and explored groundbreaking financial inclusion developments in India. Today’s post will compare financial inclusion outcomes and opportunities for growth across several Asian countries included in the 2015 Report and Scorecard. **** Of the 21 countries ranked in the 2015 Financial and Digital Inclusion Project (FDIP) Report and Scorecard, no countries in Asia placed in the top 5 in the overall ranking. However, all of the FDIP Asian countries have demonstrated progress within at least one of the four dimensions of the 2015 Scorecard: country commitment, mobile capacity, regulatory environment, and adoption of traditional and digital financial services. This blog post will dive into a few of the obstacles and opportunities facing FDIP countries in central Asia, the Middle East, and southeast Asia as they move toward greater access to and usage of financial services among marginalized groups. We explore these countries in order of their overall score: Turkey (74 percent), Indonesia (70 percent), the Philippines (68 percent), Bangladesh (67 percent), Pakistan (65 percent), and Afghanistan (58 percent). You can also read our separate post on financial inclusion in India, available here. Turkey: Clear economic advantages, but opportunities for enabling regulation and greater equity remain Turkey is one of the few upper-middle income countries in the FDIP sample, ranking in the top 5 in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) measured in US dollars. Turkey’s fairly robust banking infrastructure contributed to its relatively strong adoption rates: As of 2013, the International Monetary Fund’s Financial Access Survey found that Turkey had about 20 bank branches per 100,000 adults (the 4th highest density rate among the 21 FDIP countries) and about 73 ATMs per 100,000 adults (the 2nd highest density rate among the FDIP countries). According to the World Bank’s Global Financial Inclusion (Global Findex) database, about 57 percent of adults in Turkey had an account with a mobile money provider or formal financial institution as of 2014. Turkey’s performance on the adoption dimension of the 2015 Scorecard contributed to its tie with Colombia and Chile for 6th place on the overall scorecard. With that said, Turkey received lower mobile capacity and regulatory environment scores, ranking 16th and 17th respectively. Although Turkey’s smartphone and mobile penetration levels are quite robust, a limited mobile money provider landscape, combined with a lack of regulatory clarity surrounding branchless banking regulations (particularly agent banking), constrained Turkey’s scores in those categories. Nonetheless, there is promising news for Turkey’s financial inclusion environment. In 2015, Turkey assumed the G20 presidency and has renewed its focus on financial inclusion in association with this transition. Turkey’s 2014 financial inclusion strategy is one example of the country’s commitment to advancing inclusion. To date, financial inclusion growth in Turkey has been limited, as evidenced by the results of the 2011 and 2014 Global Findex. However, if the country’s stated commitment translates into concrete initiatives moving forward, we can expect to see accelerated financial inclusion growth. This will be critical for facilitating access to and usage of quality financial services among the nearly 60 percent of women in Turkey without formal financial accounts. Reducing the approximately 25 percentage point gap in account ownership between men and women — one of the highest gender gaps among the 21 FDIP countries — should be a key priority for the country moving forward. Indonesia: High mobile money potential, but enhanced awareness needed to drive adoption Recent changes to Indonesia’s regulatory environment have facilitated a more enabling digital financial services ecosystem, although there is still room for improvement in terms of reducing supply-side barriers. Increasing mobile money awareness could help leverage Indonesia’s strong mobile capacity rates to increase access to and usage of formal financial services. However, moving from a heavily cash-based environment to greater use of digital financial services will take time: A 2014 InterMedia survey in Indonesia found that although 93 percent of bank account holders could access their accounts digitally, 73 percent preferred to access their accounts via an agent at a bank branch. The differing mandates of Indonesia’s new financial services authority, Otoritas Jasa Keuangan (OJK), which focuses on branchless banking (specifically agent banking) and Bank Indonesia, which focuses on electronic money regulation, may have created some confusion regarding the regulatory environment. Solidifying the country’s financial inclusion strategy and clarifying the roles of the various financial inclusion stakeholders could provide opportunities for greater coherence in terms of financial inclusion objectives. OJK’s recent branchless banking regulations have led to several positive changes within the regulatory environment. For example, these regulations enabled financial service providers to appoint individuals and business entities as agents and to provide simplified customer due diligence requirements. The 2015 FDIP Report highlights in greater detail some possible improvements to the branchless banking and e-money regulations. On the mobile capacity side, Indonesia tied for the second-highest score on the 2015 Scorecard. Indonesia is one of the few countries where mobile money platform interoperability has been implemented, allowing different mobile money services to “talk” to one another in real time. Indonesia also boasted the third-highest 3G network coverage by population among all the FDIP Asian countries, as well as the third-highest unique subscribership rate among these countries. However, only about 3 percent of adults were aware of mobile money as of fall 2014, according to the InterMedia survey. In terms of adoption, the 2014 Global Findex found that women in Indonesia actually had slightly higher rates of account ownership than adults in general, although there is still significant room for growth across all adoption indicators. Given Indonesia’s strong mobile capacity ranking, increasing awareness of mobile money services could drive growth in the digital finance sector. Clarifying existing regulatory frameworks and removing some remaining restrictions regarding agent exclusivity and other agent criteria could further boost financial inclusion. Philippines: Strong commitment, but geographic barriers have inhibited scale The Philippines tied with Bangladesh to garner 15th place for adoption, which contributed to the country’s overall ranking (also 15th place). In both Bangladesh and the Philippines, about 31 percent of adults had an account with a mobile money provider or formal financial institution as of 2014. According to the 2014 Global Findex, the percentage of women with formal financial accounts was about 7 percentage points higher than the overall percentage of adults with accounts — a rarity among the 21 FDIP countries, which generally exhibit a “gender gap” in which women are less likely to have formal financial accounts than men. The Philippines’ efforts to foster financial inclusion earned it the second-highest country commitment and regulatory environment rankings among the FDIP Asian countries. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the Philippines’ central bank, has issued a number of circulars providing guidance regarding electronic money and allowing non-bank institutions to become e-money issuers. The BSP also has the distinction of being the first central bank in the world to create an office dedicated to financial inclusion. Most recently, the BSP launched a national financial inclusion strategy in July 2015. On the mobile side, according to the GSMA Intelligence database, as of the end of the first quarter of 2015 the Philippines had the highest unique mobile subscribership rate among the FDIP Asian countries, as well as the second-highest rate of 3G network coverage by population among these countries. In terms of mobile money, the Philippines is home to two of the earliest mobile financial services products, Smart’s Smart Money and Globe’s GCash. It also boasts the second-highest rate of mobile money accounts among adults in all the FDIP Asian countries, according to the 2014 Global Findex. There is still significant room for improvement in adoption of traditional and digital financial services in the Philippines. The country’s geography has posed a challenge with respect to advancing access to financial services among the dispersed population. While the extent of banking infrastructure has improved over time, as of 2013 610 out of 1,634 cities and municipalities did not have a banking office, and financial access points remained concentrated in larger cities. Expanding agent locations and facilitating interoperability could enhance mobile money adoption, mitigating the consequences of these geographic barriers. Bangladesh: Rapid growth, but high unregistered use and low adoption overall While Bangladesh performed strongly on the country commitment and mobile capacity dimensions of the 2015 FDIP Scorecard, it received one of the lowest adoption rankings among the FDIP Asian countries. According to the Global Findex, about 31 percent of adults age 15 and older had an account with a formal financial institution or mobile money provider as of 2014. Indicators pertaining to the country’s rates of formal saving, credit card use, and debit card use all received the lowest score. Bangladesh has a robust mobile landscape, with fairly strong unique mobile subscription rates — as of the first quarter of 2015, it was tied with Indonesia for the third-highest unique mobile subscribership rates among the FDIP Asian countries, after the Philippines and Turkey. This mobile coverage is combined with a multiplicity of mobile money providers (although a 2014 InterMedia survey noted that nearly 90 percent of active mobile money customers used the bKash mobile money service). Awareness of mobile money as a service in Bangladesh is very high, although understanding of the concept is less prevalent — in 2014, about 91 percent of respondents in an InterMedia survey were aware of at least one mobile money provider, although only about 36 percent were aware of mobile money as a general concept. Unregistered use of mobile money accounts is high. While about 37 percent of adults had a mobile money account or bank account or both as of 2014, according to the InterMedia survey, only about 5 percent had registered mobile money accounts, while 4 percent had active, registered mobile money accounts (meaning an account that is registered and has been used in the previous 90 days).Transitioning to registered accounts will help enable individuals to connect with more extensive financial services, such as receipt of government payments. Overall, adoption of mobile money and the expansion of agent locations have been increasingly rapid in Bangladesh — as of 2014 Bangladesh was one of the fastest growing markets in terms of total accounts globally. Over 60 percent of respondents in a 2013 InterMedia survey stated that they “fully” or “rather” trusted mobile money. Moving forward, increasing financial capability might help individuals feel more at ease registering their accounts and using them independently of an agent. Pakistan: Public and private sector initiatives advance inclusion Pakistan ranked 7th in terms of the percentage of adults with mobile money accounts among the 21 countries, achieving the highest percentage of all of the Asian FDIP countries. Yet there is significant room for growth — as of 2014, only about 6 percent of adults had a mobile money account. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has clearly expressed its commitment to advancing financial inclusion, which earned the country a commitment score of 100 percent. The SBP developed Branchless Banking regulations in 2008, with revisions in 2011. These regulations were explicitly intended to promote financial inclusion. More recently, the country’s National Financial Inclusion Strategy was launched in May 2015. In terms of quantitative assessments of financial inclusion, the SBP tracks supply-side information on branchless banking in its quarterly newsletters. Recent public and private sector initiatives may help advance mobile money adoption. For example, a re-verification initiative for SIM cards was mandated by the government and initiated earlier in 2015. Mobile network operators have been promoting registration of mobile money accounts since the biometric re-verification process is more intensive than the identification requirements needed to register a mobile money account. Earlier, in September 2014, the EasyPaisa mobile money service decided to eliminate fees related to money transfers between Easypaisa account customers and cash-out transactions for a set period. As of April 2015, the number of person-to-person money transfers had increased by about 2500 percent. Still, barriers to financial inclusion remain. A 2014 InterMedia survey noted that while distance was less of a barrier to registration than previously, distance did affect the frequency with which users engaged with mobile money services. Therefore, expanding access points could further facilitate use of mobile money. Increasing the number of registered accounts could also provide individuals with more opportunities to engage with financial services beyond basic transfers — the InterMedia survey found that as of 2014, about 8 percent of adults were over-the-counter mobile money users, while 0.3 percent were registered users. Afghanistan: Commitment to improving infrastructure and adoption Instability and systemic corruption in Afghanistan over the past several decades have damaged trust in formal financial services and limited the development of traditional banking infrastructure. In addition to having one of the lowest levels of GDP among the 21 FDIP countries, as of 2013 the Financial Access Survey found Afghanistan had the lowest reported density of commercial banks per 100,000 adults. Even among individuals who can access banks, adoption of formal accounts is constrained by a lack of trust in formal financial services. On the mobile side, Afghanistan has fairly widespread 3G network coverage (over 80 percent of the population, according to the GSMA Intelligence database), which helped boost its mobile capacity ranking to 2nd place. However, Afghanistan received the lowest score possible for each of the 15 adoption indicators. According to the 2014 Global Findex, financial account ownership as of 2014 was at about 10 percent of adults, and financial account ownership among women was at only 4 percent. Tracking gender-disaggregated data at the national level could help the government better identify underserved populations and target financial solutions toward their needs. The government has made an effort to promote financial inclusion and digital financial services. For example, Da Afghanistan Bank committed to the Alliance for Financial Inclusion in 2009, and the Republic of Afghanistan is a member of the Better Than Cash Alliance. In 2008, the Money Service Providers Regulation was issued, with amendments instituted a few years later pertaining to e-money. The Afghanistan Payments Systems, which is still being fully operationalized, aims to allow payment service providers such as mobile network operators to connect their mobile money systems. While several mobile money options are available, adoption of these services is low. According to the 2014 Global Findex, about 0.3 percent of adults had a mobile money account. Implementing interoperability across platforms might help increase the utility of mobile money services for consumers, and as in Turkey, developing specific agent banking regulations could provide clarity to the sector and drive innovation. By expanding financial access points, educating consumers about traditional and digital financial services, and monitoring providers to ensure consumer protection, Afghanistan’s regulatory entities and financial service providers may be able to better reach underserved populations and inculcate trust in formal financial services. Authors Robin LewisJohn VillasenorDarrell M. West Image Source: © Romeo Ranoco / Reuters Full Article
central asia Central Asian Regional Integration and Cooperation: Reality or Mirage? By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Wed, 31 Oct 2012 10:56:00 -0400 Editor’s Note: The following piece is a chapter from the 2012 edition of Eurasian Development Bank’s Eurasian Integration Yearbook. INTRODUCTION For centuries Central Asia was in the backwater of global political and economic attention, tales of “Great Games” and “Silk Roads” notwithstanding. However, interest in Central Asia from outside the region has been on the rise in recent years: Central Asia’s energy resources are of great importance to its neighbours in Europe and Asia. In addition, China wants a peaceful backyard, while Russia considers Central Asia part of its historical economic and regional interests and draws heavily on Central Asia migrants. Turkey is attracted by the common Turkic heritage of the region. Iran shares language and cultural ties with the Tajik people. The Central Asia’s Islamic tradition connects it with the Middle East and other Islamic countries. And now NATO countries rely on Central Asia for transit of their nonlethal military supplies in their engagement in Afghanistan. There is wide agreement that economic prosperity and political stability in Central Asia is critical not only for the 60-plus million inhabitants of the region, but also for Central Asia’s neighbours, since Central Asia serves as a strategically important land bridge between Europe and Asia. Since the five Central Asian countries are landlocked small economies, a critical prerequisite for long-term economic growth and political stability is successful economic integration underpinned by effective regional cooperation. This paper therefore addresses the central question of what are the prospects for regional economic integration and regional cooperation in Central Asia. It starts by briefly reviewing the role of Central Asia in the context of the overall process of Eurasian continental economic integration. It then considers what are the benefits and obstacles of regional integration and cooperation in Central Asia against the backdrop of lessons of international experience with regional integration and cooperation, and looks at four of the most important recent regional cooperation initiatives. In closing, the paper provides an answer to the question whether regional integration and cooperation in Central Asia are for real or only a mirage. Downloads Download the full paper Authors Johannes F. Linn Publication: Eurasian Development Bank Image Source: © Staff Photographer / Reuters Full Article
central asia China’s and Russia’s Interests in Central Asia: Connecting the Dots in Kazakhstan By webfeeds.brookings.edu Published On :: Tue, 17 Sep 2013 11:07:00 -0400 Visiting Astana, the modernistic capital of Kazakhstan, last week, I couldn't help feeling that I was at, or at least close to, the center of the universe. Consider this: On September 7, the president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, having just returned from attending the G-20 Summit in St. Petersburg at the invitation of President Putin of Russia, welcomed President Xi Jinping of China for an official visit in Astana. President Xi gave a speech that day at Nazarbayev University, in which he unabashedly borrowed a turn of phrase from former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by proposing a “New Silk Road” to serve as an “economic belt” of Eurasia, connecting “3 million people from the Pacific to the Baltic Sea” with Kazakhstan as a key partner along the way. On September 10, President Nazarbayev opened the Eurasian Emerging Markets Forum in Astana, at which he addressed some 800 participants, including high-level dignitaries and representatives from 87 countries. In his keynote speech, he laid out his plans to catapult Kazakhstan into the ranks of the top 30 developed countries in the world by 2050. The rest of the forum was devoted to exploring the ways in which this ambitious vision could be achieved and how economic integration of the Eurasian supercontinent—i.e., Europe plus Asia, with Kazakhstan at its center—would be a driver of regional and global prosperity. Finally, on September 13, President Nazarbayev joined the leaders of China, Russia and the five Central Asian republics in Bishkek for a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which was also attended by a number of other regional leaders with observer status, including from Afghanistan, India, Iran and Pakistan. Besides the usual pledges of good neighborly relations within the group, the leaders weighed in with a chorus of statements about current geopolitical trouble spots, including Afghanistan, Iran and Syria, many of them directed critically at the United States. While the president and people of Kazakhstan might have felt at the center of global action this week, there is little doubt that China and Russia are the key external actors on the Central Asian stage. Europe and the United States are far away and hardly visible, and everybody expects that, with the imminent end of NATO’s engagement in Afghanistan, their attention to Central Asia will slip even further. In contrast, the leaders of China and Russia are clearly focused on this region. Central Asian leaders, while perhaps privately worried about the long-term consequences of too tight an embrace by China, welcome the low-key approach of their big neighbor... If there had been any doubt, President Xi’s speech in Astana showed that China is now concerned with Central Asia at the highest level. While China faces its neighbors in the Pacific region in an assertive pose designed to counter what it sees as encirclement by unfriendly countries led by the U.S., it evidently feels no threat in Central Asia and projects an image of itself as benevolent and modest senior partner. No doubt sensing opportunities to create a stable backyard, to secure access to energy resources and to build a land bridge to European and Middle Eastern markets while also gently wresting influence away from Russia, China has a strong incentive to push westward. The substantial energy supply deals that President Xi signed in Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan this past week and the stress Xi placed in his Astana speech on measures to open up transport links throughout Eurasia reflect China’s growing engagement in this region. Central Asian leaders, while perhaps privately worried about the long-term consequences of too tight an embrace by China, welcome the low-key approach of their big neighbor, which promises to strengthen their own hand economically and politically at least in the short term. At the same time, there is also a new dynamic between Central Asia and Russia. Since Mr. Putin resumed the Russian presidency in 2012, Russia has breathed new life into a long-dormant regional grouping, the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC), by pushing hard to create a customs union (and eventually an economic union) that, in Russia’s view, would encompass most of the republics of the former Soviet Union. Although only a fraction of the geographic space of continental Eurasia (Europe + Asia), the reference to “Eurasia” harks back to a long-standing Russian ideological vision. Under this vision, Russia and its former Soviet neighbors are endowed with a unique combination of European and Asian values and, led by Russia, with a mission to dominate the land bridge between Europe and Asia. In the pursuit of establishing a unified economic “Eurasian” space, Russia has not only successfully pushed for the full implementation of the current customs union between Russia, Kazakhstan and Belorussia, but is also vigorously pursuing the expansion of the union in Ukraine, Central Asia (specifically targeting the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan) and Armenia in the South Caucasus. In the case of Armenia and Ukraine, this pursuit has taken on a decidedly anti-European Union tone, as Russia seems to spare no effort to ensure that these countries will join its own economic orbit, rather than associating with the EU. In Central Asia, the Russian campaign of expanding the customs union has been more low key, but nonetheless persistent with the quiet support of Kazakhstan. Interestingly, this effort to create a unified economic space has not been cast by Russia as a move to counteract the growing influence of China in Central Asia, even though it is undoubtedly one of the underlying long-term motives for Russian diplomacy in the region. Much more important for China will be whether the “Eurasian” economic union can create safe, low-cost and high-speed transit routes to China’s key trading partners in Europe, South Asia and the Middle East. Indeed, for Central Asia in general and for Kazakhstan in particular, the important questions for the future will be how China and Russia shape their mutual relations overall and how they will seek to accommodate their overlapping interests in the region. For the moment, a common geopolitical front vis-à-vis the U.S., evident in their joint positions at the U.N. Security Council and at the SCO summit last week, is an overarching priority for China and Russia. Moreover, they share the common interest of establishing a stable and prosperous political and economic sphere in Central Asia. For now and the foreseeable future, China’s thirst for energy is large enough to allow both Russia and Central Asian countries to pursue opportunities for major oil and gas supply deals with China without undue competition. Finally, whatever protectionist effects an expansion of the Russian-led customs union may have in limiting trade between China and Central Asia will likely be temporary and will hardly be noticed in China’s huge overall trade account. Much more important for China will be whether the “Eurasian” economic union can create safe, low-cost and high-speed transit routes to China’s key trading partners in Europe, South Asia and the Middle East. This priority strongly resonated in President Xi’s speech, in which he not only staked out an interest in Eurasian economic integration, but also promised greater cooperation between the SCO and EurAsEC. What does all of this mean in practical terms for Central Asia and for Kazakhstan? As President Nazarbayev indicated in his speech at the Eurasian Emerging Markets Forum, he sees Kazakhstan as playing a key role in supporting the economic integration of larger Eurasia. This presumably should mean: investing in regional infrastructure, such as the major East-West Highway through Kazakhstan as a link from China to Europe; assuring that the customs union pursues open, rather than protectionist, policies; and convincing the other Central Asian countries, including Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, to participate in an effort to increase the region’s connectivity both internally and with the rest of the world. In addition, there are a number of institutional options for promoting these goals and for turning China’s and Russia’s engagement in Central Asia into a pragmatic partnership. One option would be to have China join the Eurasian Development Bank (EADB), the financial arm of EurAsEC. Another would be for Russia to join the Central Asian Regional Economic Cooperation Program (CAREC), in which China has teamed up with Central Asian countries (now also including Afghanistan, Mongolia and Pakistan) and with six international financial organizations (including the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank) with the goal of improving regional cooperation and investment in trade, transport and energy. Either or both of these two options could then offer SCO a financial and technical institutional platform to pursue economic integration between China, Russia and Central Asia (and, ultimately, even South Asia), a goal that has eluded SCO up until now. Kazakhstan is a member of EurAsEc, EADB, CAREC and SCO, and is therefore in a unique position to promote institutional changes along some or all of these lines. One place to start would be the next ministerial conference of CAREC, to be held in Astana on October 24-25. Of course, it is by no means clear that China and Russia will see it in their interest to dilute their lead roles in EADB and CAREC, the regional organizations that they now respectively dominate. However, establishing a strong and meaningful institutional capacity that would support the economic integration process in Central Asia and in the larger Eurasia would be of great benefit for Kazakhstan, since it would help turn the country from being “land-locked” to being “land-linked” with the world’s largest and most dynamic economies. Authors Johannes F. Linn Image Source: © RIA Novosti / Reuters Full Article
central asia Wild Progenitors of Domestic Fruit & Nut Trees in Central Asia Threatened with Extinction By www.treehugger.com Published On :: Fri, 08 May 2009 11:49:00 -0400 There's a , and now trees in Central Asia have theirs as well. The Full Article Science
central asia TheDiplomat: The Impact of Migration on Water Scarcity in Central Asia By www.iwmi.cgiar.org Published On :: Tue, 19 Jun 2018 11:02:09 +0000 What does male migration have to do with water scarcity in Central Asia? Full Article Asia News Central Asia News IWMI in the news Regional News Z-Featured Content Z-News migration Tajikistan TheDiplomat Water Scarcity
central asia Blogs.WorldBank.org: Secrets to successful irrigation management from Central Asia By www.iwmi.cgiar.org Published On :: Thu, 21 Jun 2018 03:45:40 +0000 About 60 percent of the region’s people are employed by the agricultural sector, which depends almost entirely on irrigation. Full Article Asia News Central Asia News IWMI in the news Regional News Z-Featured Content Z-News Agriculture central asia irrigation management sustainable development Tajikistan
central asia OECD holds regional Network Meeting on BEPS in Eastern Europe and Central Asia By www.oecd.org Published On :: Mon, 09 Mar 2015 13:19:00 GMT Following the recent meetings of regional policy networks on BEPS in South East Asia (Korea 12-13 February), francopohone countries (Gabon, 27 February) and Latin America and the Caribbean (Peru, 26-27 February) a regional network meeting in Eastern Europe and Central Asia was held in Ankara, Turkey on 5-6 March. Full Article
central asia OECD holds second regional Network Meeting on BEPS in Eastern Europe and Central Asia By www.oecd.org Published On :: Fri, 23 Oct 2015 15:00:00 GMT On 21-23 October 2015, the Eastern Europe and Central Asia Regional Meeting and Governmental Workshop on BEPS discussed the outcomes of the BEPS project, and how countries can engage in the implementation and monitoring of the measures adopted on an equal footing. Full Article
central asia OECD holds regional meeting of the Inclusive Framework on BEPS for the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region By www.oecd.org Published On :: Fri, 16 Dec 2016 16:00:00 GMT More than 60 delegates from 14 countries gathered in Vilnius for the first regional meeting of the Inclusive Framework on BEPS in the region. This meeting was the last of a series of regional events in 2016 intended to offer countries in different regions of the world the opportunity to feed their views and provide their input into the Inclusive Framework on BEPS. Full Article
central asia OECD and tax officials from Eastern Europe and Central Asia discuss BEPS implementation in Armenia By www.oecd.org Published On :: Fri, 09 Nov 2018 15:00:00 GMT Over 60 delegates from 16 countries, international and regional organisations, business, civil society and academia gathered in Yerevan, Armenia on 7 - 9 November 2018 for a regional meeting of the Inclusive Framework on BEPS in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Full Article
central asia Anti-corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia meetings: October 2014 By www.oecd.org Published On :: Wed, 08 Oct 2014 15:59:00 GMT 8-10 October 2014, Paris, France: Discussions at this meeting will focus on implementing the Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan; monitoring reports for Armenia and Kazakhstan; and, progress reports from Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Full Article
central asia Anti-corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia: March 2015 meetings By www.oecd.org Published On :: Mon, 23 Mar 2015 17:54:00 GMT This meeting will focus on the third round monitoring reports under the Istanbul Anti-Corruption Action Plan for Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine. The meeting will also include progress reports from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Full Article
central asia Prevention of Corruption in the Public Sector in Eastern Europe and Central Asia By www.oecd.org Published On :: Mon, 18 May 2015 15:43:00 GMT This cross-country report on prevention of public sector corruption analyses the preventive measures that have proven to be effective and successful in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The review focuses on twenty-one countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia and includes examples from OECD countries. Full Article
central asia Liability of Legal Persons for Corruption in Eastern Europe and Central Asia By www.oecd.org Published On :: Wed, 10 Jun 2015 19:51:00 GMT This cross-country report analyses the legislation on liability of legal persons for corruption and its enforcement in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, highlighting national practices that may be promoted as good practice. While it focuses on 25 countries participating in the Anti-Corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ACN), examples from OECD countries are also included. Full Article
central asia Boosting the impact of anti-corruption reforms in Eastern Europe and Central Asia By www.oecd.org Published On :: Thu, 21 Apr 2016 17:43:00 GMT 21 April 2016, Paris: The OECD will host a High-Level Meeting on boosting the impact of anti-corruption reforms in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Full Article
central asia Business Integrity in Eastern Europe and Central Asia By www.oecd.org Published On :: Wed, 14 Sep 2016 18:24:00 GMT This study explores what governments, business associations, NGOs, and companies do in order to strengthen business integrity with a particular focus on anti-corruption measures in and for the private sector in countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, as well as in selected other countries. Full Article
central asia Anti-corruption Reforms in Eastern Europe and Central Asia By www.oecd.org Published On :: Wed, 14 Sep 2016 18:49:00 GMT Countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia have introduced important anti-corruption reforms in recent years. However, corruption in the region remains high. This report identifies progress achieved as well as challenges which require further action by countries. Full Article
central asia Anti-corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia: September 2017 meetings By www.oecd.org Published On :: Tue, 12 Sep 2017 10:43:00 GMT This meeting of the Anti-Corruption Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ACN) will take place at the OECD on 12-14 September 2017. Full Article
central asia External Affairs Minister addresses India - Central Asia Business Forum in New Delhi [ph]Photo Courtesy: Chandan Kumar Shah[/ph] By meacms.mea.gov.in Published On :: Thu, 06 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT Full Article
central asia Order at the bazaar: power and trade in Central Asia / Regine A. Spector By library.mit.edu Published On :: Sun, 7 Jan 2018 06:32:08 EST Rotch Library - HF5475.K982 B57 2017 Full Article
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