BISHKEK (TCA) — Kyrgyzstan has updated the historical maximum for remittances from Russia. In the first three months of 2017, labor migrants from Kyrgyzstan working in Russia transferred $433 million to their homeland, which is 67% more than in the same period in 2016, the National Bank of Kyrgyzstan said. Prior to this, migrants transferred the most money for the same period in 2013 ($411.5 million).

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BISHKEK (TCA) — The Publisher’s note: Central Asia is an important geopolitical area between Europe, Russia and China. It is in Central Asia that world powers have confronted each other for centuries; it is here that China needs to succeed with its new Silk Road Belt for direct access to the Western markets; and it is here that a large wealth of raw materials has its origin. Every week thousands of news appears all over the world in printed and online media and it is quite understandable that many of them may escape the attention of busy readers. At The Times of Central Asia, we strongly believe that more information can better contribute to peaceful development and better knowledge of the region, and for this reason we are presenting this Weekly Digest of Central Asia which compiles what other media have reported during the past week.

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BISHKEK (TCA) — Kyrgyzstan is a politically and economically liberal country, and it can become an Internet hub for the Central Asian region. Freedom of information in the country is very important for the Internet, IT expert Talant Sultanov said at an international conference “Information technologies, a new way of economic development” held on May 23 in Bishkek.

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DUSHANBE (TCA) — Russia has reinforced its military base in Tajikistan with a battery of Uragan multiple rocket launcher systems — the move which is due to the instability in neighboring Afghanistan, according to Dmitry Aleksandrov, a senior analyst at the Russia Institute for Strategic Studies, Sputnik news agency reported.

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BISHKEK (TCA) — As Central Asian countries badly need foreign investment for their economic growth, and this investment could mainly come from China, we are republishing this article by George Voloshin, originally published by The Jamestown Foundation’s Eurasia Daily Monitor:

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