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South Korea Launches $4 Million Railway Project in Tajikistan

As reported by Asia-Plus, the Ministry of Transport of Tajikistan and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) have signed a memorandum of negotiations on the $4 million economical and technical development of the Jaloliddin Balkhi–Nizhniy Pyanj railway project. “The main goal of this project is to enter the market of South Asian countries—Afghanistan, Pakistan, India,” stated Azim Ibrahim, Minister of Transport of Tajikistan after explaining and that the railway will ensure the development of regional trade, help maintain the condition of roads, and reduce the burden and intensity of traffic on the streets. “If the project is successfully implemented, Tajikistan will become an attractive railway transit country," he continued. "And the increase in the volume of cargo and product transportation with neighbouring countries will prove very beneficial for Tajikistan and other countries in the region." Acting Ambassador of South Korea to the Republic of Tajikistan, Kim Jeon Sik, hailed the project as another step towards the country's progressive future and said that with direct access to the sea, Tajikistan had the potential to become the main link in international cargo transportation. He closed by expressing his hope that South Korea’s first railway construction project in Central Asia would be completed within three years.

EU’s Borrell Reaffirms European Commitment to Cooperation with Kazakhstan

On August 1, the high representative of the European Union for foreign affairs and security policy, Josep Borrell, visited Astana and met with Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, and Foreign Minister Murat Nurtleu. Explaining the purpose of the visit, Borell said “as my mandate as a representative of the European Union ends in three months, it was very important for me to come here to Astana to reaffirm the strong interest and commitment of the European Union to strengthen cooperation with Central Asia in general and with Kazakhstan in particular as the strongest country in the region.” “I used to say that four years ago, when I came to Brussels, Central Asia was a little bit in the middle of nowhere – and now, you are in the middle of everything…Everything that matters between Europe and Asia goes through you”, he added. The EU High Representative also said, “Under the leadership of President Tokayev, Kazakhstan has embarked on the path of the wide range of political and economic reforms that we support”. Stressing Kazakhstan's strategic geographical position as a bridge between Europe and Asia, Borrell noted that the EU is Kazakhstan’s number one trade partner, representing more than one-third of all Kazakh exports, and the biggest investor in the country. Borrell’s meeting with President Tokayev covered progress of the Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between Kazakhstan and the EU, a comprehensive accord aimed at enhancing political, economic, and social collaboration between the EU and Kazakhstan. Tokayev commended the high-level dialogue between Kazakhstan and the EU, notably the productive visit of European Council President, Charles Michel, and talks with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. “I think we reached many common views as far as our cooperation is concerned,” Tokayev said. He also lauded a memorandum signed by the Government of Kazakhstan and Ursula von der Leyen on the development of green hydrogen on November 7, 2022, during the COP27 climate conference in Sharm El-Sheikh, calling it “a very concrete step forward in terms of mutual cooperation”. Borrell commented that they had "discussed key political and economic reforms in Kazakhstan and topics of mutual interest in the challenging geopolitical context. We appreciate Kazakhstan’s principled support to the UN Charter and commitment to international law." Borrell also met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Murat Nurtleu. Speaking about the Ukraine war, Borrel stated: "We encourage you to take further steps in order to make this war reach an end, and to use your influence for that." Also on the agenda were cooperation in transport and logistics, digitalization, civil aviation, agriculture, use of critical raw materials, and energy. According to Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry, the European Union is Kazakhstan’s leading trading and investment partner, accounting for more than 30% of Kazakhstan’s foreign trade and investments. In 2023, trade between Kazakhstan and the EU amounted to $41.4 billion. In January-May 2024, bilateral trade reached $20.2 billion, showing a 14.1% increase compared to the same period last year ($17.7 billion). The...

China

China Expands Footprint in Central Asia

In July, Chinese leader Xi Jinping, architect of the Belt and Road economic initiative, traveled to Kazakhstan for a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a security group whose founding members include several Central Asian countries. There, Xi warned against the threat of “external interference” and celebrated Chinese collaboration with President Vladimir Putin of Russia, the region’s other traditional power. Then he visited Tajikistan, a security partner that borders China and Afghanistan. Europe and the United States, which want to counterbalance Chinese and Russian sway in Central Asia, were watching. Last week, several analysts affiliated with Western institutions held a Zoom discussion titled "The China-Central Asia Crossroads." It was hosted by the Center for the National Interest, a non-profit group based in Washington – a few blocks from the White House. Here are excerpts from the analysis: Balancing China and Russia: Temur Umarov, a fellow at the Berlin-based Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center: There is a misconception that “China is somehow replacing Russia” as the main partner in Central Asia because of unease over Russia´s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. “The reality is much more nuanced and detailed,” Umarov said. Since the end of the Soviet Union in 1991, he said, Central Asian countries have always looked for “diversified ties with the world” and “Central Asia wants to have China’s presence be enlarged into other spheres and to have a counterbalance in the face of Russia.” Elizabeth Wishnick, an expert on Sino-Russian relations at the Center for Naval Analyses and the Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University: “Central Asians wanted to diversify away from Russia to have more choice. China is not necessarily the only partner they want. And they they've been trying, especially recently, to engage with European countries, with India, with Iran, with Turkey, with a broader range of countries.” Wishnick, who traveled recently to Central Asia, said some people described Russia as “toxic” in private conversations. She also said: “You see a lot of caution about the relationship with China in terms of the lack of transparency of some of the projects that China is investing in, the potential environmental consequence of some of these projects.” Brian Carlson, a research professor at the Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College: There is “a little bit of slippage of Russian influence in the region,” although Putin has worked to maintain it with frequent meetings with Central Asian leaders, Carlson said. He noted that, after Putin visited China in May, he called the leaders of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to update them on the trip. Even so, China’s influence is increasing. “And so, this does pose challenges for the Central Asian countries. In the past, they've kind of tried to play Russia and China off against each other. To some extent, that will be more difficult given that China and Russia have a very close partnership. So, it will be difficult for Central Asian countries to navigate great power relations in the coming years....

SCO and Afghanistan on the Cusp of a New Relationship

The hype surrounding the recent summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Council of Heads of State in Astana has died down, and the expert community has offered differing takeaways, with some experts optimistic and others cautious. Few, however, have considered what new this summit delivered on Afghanistan. In general, what is the role of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in resolving the political issues around long-suffering Afghanistan and rebuilding its economy? Despite the SCO’s previous hands-off approach to Afghan affairs, the issue of Taliban-ruled Afghanistan was raised for the first time at the highest level of the SCO in Astana, which gives hope that the organization will expand its role. In their remarks, almost every SCO head of state touched on Afghanistan in essentially the same vein, stating the need for peace, stability and security, while underlining the fact that Afghanistan is an integral part of Central Asia. Indeed, Afghanistan was mentioned in the final declaration of the Astana summit, with Member States “reaffirming their commitment to asserting Afghanistan as an independent, neutral and peaceful state free from terrorism, war, and narcotic drugs [and voicing] their readiness to support the international community’s efforts to facilitate peace and development in that country.” At the same time, there was a clear message to the Taliban that “the establishment of an inclusive government involving multiple representatives of all ethnic and political groups of Afghan society is the only way toward attaining lasting peace and stability in that country.” These statements represent a rather big step, considering that previously the SCO failed to find a consensus on Afghanistan and develop its own mechanisms to interact with Kabul. The creation of the SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group back in 2005 was rather a spontaneous reaction to the US-led coalition's Operation Enduring Freedom in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attack. The SCO itself says the contact group was created because of the "concerns of the SCO countries about the negative development of the situation in Afghanistan and the intention of the SCO to establish a specific consultative dialogue with Kabul." While the contact group included the members’ permanent representatives to the SCO, only a few events were ever held. Indeed, interest in the contact group was only really apparent from the Afghan side, which was looking for SCO assistance in rebuilding the Afghan economy and SCO participation in implementing various energy and transport infrastructure projects and creating favorable conditions for Afghan goods to access the markets of SCO countries. However, none of this was realized. The SCO states preferred, as they still do, to conduct relations with Afghanistan bilaterally, and did not support the efforts of the SCO Secretariat to intensify the work of the contact group. In 2010, Uzbekistan directly indicated its interest in building relations with Afghanistan exclusively on a bilateral basis and stated that it would no longer take part in the contact group. In June 2012, Afghanistan’s application for SCO observer status was granted. Yet this step was more symbolic and failed to...

Japan to Offer Aid to Central Asia

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is set to announce an economic aid package for Central Asia. According to The Japan Times, details will be revealed during the Japanese prime minister's meeting with heads of the five Central Asian states during his visit to Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia from August 9 to 12. Tokyo is seeking to strengthen ties with the region by helping to create a trade route across the Caspian Sea that would link Central Asia and Europe, bypassing Russia. According to the Japanese government, the initiative will reduce the heavy influence of both Russia and China on the region and afford Central Asia economic independence. Kishida is expected to announce the economic support package in a joint statement following the six-party summit in Kazakhstan on implementing a new trade route, helping to decarbonize the economy, and promoting people-to-people exchanges. Japanese companies will also help Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries reduce their dependence on coal by providing technology and loans to develop natural gas production and processing. In exchange, the Central Asian states will send skilled labor to Japan.

Turkmenistan and Afghanistan Accelerate Their Cooperation on Torghundi-Sanabar Railroad

A group of managers from Turkmen Railways (Turkmendemiryollary) visited Afghanistan this week to discuss railway infrastructure projects. High on the agenda was the construction of a goods warehouse at Torghundi station, and the first stage of the Torghundi-Sanabar section of the Torghundi-Herat railroad. During the visit, the Turkmen delegation held talks with the head of the Afghan Railway Authority, Bakht-ur Rahman Sharafat. They discussed railroad connections between the two countries, including a joint plan for the Torghundi-Sanabar project. On July 29 there were talks with the Afghan Cabinet of Ministers' deputy head for economic affairs. The Afghan official approved the allocation of land for the warehouse complex, and signed off the Torghundi-Sanabar project. The head of Afghanistan's Herat province, Nur Mohammad Islamjar, has commented that these projects will contribute to Afghanistan's economic stability, and stimulate Herat's industrial development. As part of the visit, an agreement was also reached to establish a working group to increase cargo transportation between the two countries. Afghanistan is interested in transporting its goods along the Lazurite Corridor (a trade route that passes through Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey), and announced that it would conduct a tariff analysis.