Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Interconnectedness is an important factor for good neighborliness, sustainable development and economic growth in Central Asia. This opinion was expressed by the First Deputy Director of the Institute for Strategic and Interregional Studies (ISMI) under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Akramjon Nematov at the online conference "The state and prospects for the development of transport and logistics infrastructure of the Central Asian countries as an important factor in ensuring interconnectivity in the region", held 20 October 2022.

In an event organized jointly with the representative office of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Uzbekistan, leading experts of the institutes of strategic studies of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, the EU, as well as specialists from the MIFT, CEIR, MICA, JSC "O’zbekiston temir yullari" took part.

During the online conference, the participants exchanged views on a wide range of issues related to the development of transport and communication links, diversification of routes for the delivery of goods, and the introduction of modern technologies in the transport infrastructure.

Opening the forum, Akramjon Nematov stressed the importance of having a developed transport infrastructure and diversified routes to gain unhindered access to world markets. This is of particular relevance for the Central Asian states that do not have direct access to the seas.

In the current conditions, characterized by the persistence of the negative consequences of the pandemic, the use of protectionist measures and sanctions, there are gaps in transport and logistics links.

This led to an increase in the cost of transport and logistics in the structure of the cost of goods by an average of 20 to 50%. This has a particularly negative impact on the stability of the economies of the Central Asian countries, 46.1% of whose trade is accounted for by imports. In 2021, they bought US$77 billion worth of goods, of which more than US$7 billion worth of food. As a result, prices for food, energy and other vital goods have risen significantly in the region.

In this context, according to the First Deputy Director of the ISMI, the states of Central Asia need to diversify transport corridors, create conditions for the development of internal interregional trade.

Although the countries of Central Asia have tripled their mutual trade in recent years, from US$5.5 billion in 2016 to US$16.5 billion in 2021, its performance is far behind the global average.

In particular, in the total trade turnover of the Central Asian countries, which exceeded US$167 billion in 2021, the mutual trade of the participating states is only 10%. At the same time, this figure exceeds 63.2% in the European Union, 70% in ASEAN, 40.9% in NAFTA, and 57.5% in East Asia. Moreover, Central Asia’s foreign trade accounts for less than 1% of world trade of US$28 trillion.

In this regard, it is very important to develop alternative routes connecting the region in the North-South and East-West directions.

In particular, the implementation of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway project will allow the region to become one of the main transit hubs between East Asia and Europe, increase trade, economic and transit potential by providing the shortest access to the ports of the Persian Gulf and the Pacific Ocean.

Another important area, according to Akramjon Nematov, is the prospects for the implementation of trans-regional infrastructure projects designed to connect South and Central Asia through Afghanistan. According to him, access to the capacious South Asian market of 1.9 billion people. will significantly increase the foreign trade of the Central Asian countries.

The expert stressed that Uzbekistan is in favor of the implementation of the Trans-Afghan railway along the Termez-Mazari-Sharif-Kabul-Peshawar route. This initiative, together with such large projects as the Surkhan-Puli-Khumri, CASA-1000 power lines, the TAPI gas pipeline, can also act as a trigger for the economic development of Afghanistan, having a positive impact on other key areas of the country’s economy.

At the same time, they will create alternative sources of income for the population and, as a result, contribute to the eradication of the social background of the conflict.

At the same time, Akramjon Nematov noted that the countries of Central Asia should create conditions not only for the formation of developed regional transport and transit corridors, but also jointly make efforts to transform Central Asia into a full-fledged link in the global production and logistics chain.

For this, the region has a large developed human and intellectual potential, a rich mineral resource base, and a diversified industrial infrastructure.

In this vein, the First Deputy Director of ISMI outlined the key role of the development of industrial cooperation aimed at the production of products with high added value. According to the expert, it is important to form in Central Asia an industrial and technological space with a high level of transport and communication interconnectedness. At the same time, it is necessary to use competitive advantages and complementarity of economies.

In conclusion, the expert emphasized that transport and economic interconnectedness are an important factor in good neighborliness, sustainable development and economic growth of the countries of Central Asia. In turn, the presence of a modern transport and logistics infrastructure and a strong industrial base increases the competitiveness of the region as an integral entity, improves the prospects for attracting investment and participation of the Central Asian states in the affairs of the world economy.

In this regard, Akramjon Nematov called to support the initiatives of Uzbekistan to establish the Regional Council for Transport Communications of the Central Asian countries. According to him, this structure will help consolidate the efforts of the countries of the region to diversify the transport, transit and logistics capabilities of Central Asia.

An important contribution in this direction will also be the development of the Strategy for the Development of Regional Transport Corridors in Central Asia and the adoption on its basis of the Regional Program for the Sustainable Development of the Transport System of Central Asia. They will create a solid foundation for consolidating efforts in the further integration of transport and transit networks and the implementation of new routes in Central Asia.