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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ASTANA (TCA) — As Kazakhstan’s longtime President Nursultan Nazarbayev has announced a constitutional reform aimed at redistribution of state power in the country, we are republishing this article originally published by EurasiaNet.org:

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ALMATY (TCA) — At a ceremony on January 27 in Almaty, the U.S. Mission to Kazakhstan handed over a Huey II Helicopter worth $7 million to the Ministry of Defense of Kazakhstan. This is the fourth Huey helicopter provided to Kazakhstan through the U.S. Foreign Military Sales Program. U.S. Ambassador George Krol, U.S. Consul General Mark Moody, U.S. Defense Attaché Colonel Ron Hogan, and leadership of the Ministry of Defense of Kazakhstan participated in the ceremony, the U.S. Consulate General in Almaty said.

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ASTANA (TCA) — The Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan and the World Bank on January 26 launched a new project aimed at designing and developing Kazakhstan’s greenhouse gases (GHG) electronic reporting platform and its supporting institutional and legal frameworks, the World Bank said.

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ALMATY (TCA) — Kaynar-AKB, the only manufacturer of automobile batteries in Kazakhstan, is expanding its sales markets abroad. The company has begun exporting its products to the African continent and has delivered the first batch of its BARS Asia batteries to Benin, the Atameken National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of Kazakhstan reported on January 26.

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DUSHANBE (TCA) — Preparatory work has begun for a proposed project to improve food security in Tajikistan by boosting dairy production while making the industry more resilient to climate change, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) country office in Tajikistan said.

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