Page 666 – The Times Of Central Asia

22 Oct 2024

Central Asia, Kazakhstan Local Politics, Local Politics, Kazakhstan, Business & Economy, Kazakhstan Business & Economy

Kazakhstan Opens its Longest Bridge

October 22, 2024
By Sergey Kwan

The Kazakh government’s press service has reported that on October 21, Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov attended the opening of Kazakhstan’s longest bridge.

Spanning 1,316 meters across the Bukhtarma Reservoir, the new bridge which connects six districts of Kazakhstan’s eastern region, can accommodate up to 80,000 vehicles per day and reduce travelling time from hours to minutes.

In his address at the launch, the president stressed that the bridge would allow for safe year-round traffic and accelerate the region’s socio-economic development, stating: “For 50 years, residents of the region traveled [across the reservoir] either by ferry in the summer or directly on the ice in the winter and have been waiting for the bridge’s construction for a long time.”

East Kazakhstan is a strategic region through which important transport corridors pass. The bridge across the Bukhtarma Reservoir will improve transport and logistics routes, ensure uninterrupted connections with bordering countries, and help unlock the region’s tourism potential.

The new bridge follows the opening of the country’s longest automobile tunnel in September at the Shakpak Baba Pass in southern Turkestan.

22 Oct 2024

Central Asia, International Affairs, Kazakhstan International Affairs, Kazakhstan, Business & Economy, Kazakhstan Business & Economy

Kazakhstan and Afghanistan Discuss Transport Links for Trade with China

October 22, 2024
By Sergey Kwan

At a meeting in Almaty on October 21, Kazakhstan’s Deputy Prime Minister Serik Zhumangarin and Afghanistan’s Minister of Industry and Commerce Nuriddin Azizi addressed the logistics of transportation of goods from China to Afghanistan and back through Kazakhstan.

In June, Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced that his country had removed the Taliban from its list of terrorist organizations in a move to develop trade and economic ties with Afghanistan. In late August, Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry accredited a chargé d’affaires of Taliban-led Afghanistan to expand trade, financial, and humanitarian cooperation between the two countries.

As the Kazakh Ministry of Trade and Integration reported, one critical issue is the reverse loading of railcars and containers on their way back from Afghanistan. To reduce the cost of logistics, Kazakhstan is considering loading empty railcars with Afghan fruits and vegetables, persimmons, beans, and other food products for delivery to Kazakhstan.

Bauyrzhan Urynbasarov, managing director of Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ), the country’s national railway company, proposed two options for reverse loading empty containers and railcars.

The first is a circular train route: container trains traveling from China through Kazakhstan to Afghanistan are loaded with Afghan goods bound for China. From there, they pass through the port of Karachi in Pakistan before returning to China.

In the second route, trains reach Afghanistan, where they are reloaded and loaded with Afghan goods, then return to Kazakhstan, where, after unloading, they are packed with Kazakh goods and go to China.

Zhumangarin proposed that the Afghan side use the capacities of the Kazakh terminal in the Chinese dry port in Xi’an, the Kazakh-Chinese logistics terminal in the port of Lianyungang, and the terminal currently under construction in the dry port of Urumqi in China’s Xinjiang.

The parties also agreed to organize an interregional Kazakh-Afghan forum, where the provinces of Afghanistan and the regions of Kazakhstan could discuss cooperation projects.

According to Kazakh statistics, trade turnover between Kazakhstan and Afghanistan amounted to $330.7 million from January to August 2024. Exports from Kazakhstan to Afghanistan totaled $316.5 million, including flour, sunflower oil, natural gas, and fertilizers. Afghanistan’s exports reached $14.1 million, mainly mineral water, fruits, juices, and aluminum products.

The Afghan delegation arrived in Almaty on October 20 to participate in an exhibition of Afghan food and industrial products.

22 Oct 2024

Central Asia, Uzbekistan, International Affairs, Local Politics, Business & Economy, Uzbekistan Business & Economy, Uzbekistan International Affairs, Uzbekistan Local Politics

Foreign Companies to Invest in Waste Recycling Plants across Uzbekistan

October 22, 2024
By Sergey Kwan

On October 21, Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev attended a presentation on new projects for recycling household waste into electricity.

As reported by the president’s press service, Uzbekistan produces 14 million tons of solid waste annually, but only 4-5 percent is recycled. As a consequence, over 7 million tons of greenhouse gases and 43,000 tons of toxic substances formed at waste landfills are annually emitted into the atmosphere and penetrate the soil.

To resolve the problem, the Ministry of Ecology, Environmental Protection, and Climate Change has prepared several projects with foreign investors. The plan is to build waste incineration plants across Uzbekistan and process landfill gases at the Akhangaran landfill, with a total investment of about $1.3 billion.

A Chinese company, CAMC Engineering, will invest $350 million in constructing two waste incineration plants in the Andijan and Tashkent regions, capable of processing 4,000 tons of waste daily and generating 630 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually. Another Chinese company, Shanghai SUS Environment, plans to invest $310 million in building two plants in the Samarkand and Kashkadarya regions to process 3,000 tons of waste daily and generate 480 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually.

The United Arab Emirates Group is to invest $200 million in a plant in the Bukhara and Navoi regions to process 1,500 tons of waste daily and generate 363 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, and Sejin (Republic of Korea) will invest $55 million in the construction of a 16-megawatt electricity plant in the Akhangaran district of Tashkent to generate electricity from landfill gases.

The combined projects, to be implemented between 2025-’27, are predicted to burn over 4.7 million tons of solid municipal waste annually and generate 2.1 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity worth $97 million, saving 152 million cubic meters of natural gas and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2.4 million tons.

Back on September 26, the President of Uzbekistan established the Agency for Waste Management and Circular Economy Development aimed to introduce modern methods of collecting, sorting, and recycling waste and producing alternative energy, raw materials, and organic fertilizers. Eco-industrial zones are also to be created on landfill sites across Uzbekistan.

22 Oct 2024

Central Asia, International Affairs, Kyrgyzstan International Affairs, Kyrgyzstan, Business & Economy, Kyrgyzstan Business & Economy

Kyrgyzstan and Russia Set to Expand Cooperation

December 17, 2024
By Sergey Kwan

On October 21, in Moscow, Akylbek Japarov, the Chairman of Kyrgyzstan’s Cabinet of Ministers, and Mikhail Mishustin, the Chairman of the Russian Government, chaired a joint meeting of the governments of both countries.

Japarov’s visit was planned to coincide with the centenary of the formation of the Kara-Kyrgyz Autonomous Region, and also with the beginning of the Days of Culture of Kyrgyzstan in Russia.

“The establishment of the Kara-Kyrgyz Autonomous Region in 1924 as part of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, followed by the formation of the Kyrgyz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in 1926 and later the Kyrgyz Soviet Socialist Republic in 1936, was of colossal importance for our people, becoming the foundation of the sovereign Kyrgyz Republic. The friendship between the Kyrgyz and Russian peoples has been forged over the centuries, has gone through difficult times, but has given many examples of devotion and loyalty,” Japarov said.

Noting that Kyrgyz-Russian relations have elevated to the status of “deepened relations” of alliance and strategic partnership, Japarov stated: “We are very pleased that Russian private businesses and investors have paid attention to Kyrgyzstan’s possibilities and have intensified their work. We are always open to Russian investments and are ready to provide maximum assistance in implementing investment proposals.”

Mishustin in turn expressed Russia’s interest in further developing bilateral cooperation in all areas.

“During the first eight months of this year, [Kyrgyz-Russian] trade turnover has grown by 16 percent. The share of the ruble in mutual settlements has reached almost 90 percent. We want to maintain this trend to ensure stable and predictable conditions for doing business,” Mishustin said.

22 Oct 2024

Central Asia, Uzbekistan, International Affairs, Business & Economy, Uzbekistan Business & Economy, Uzbekistan International Affairs

Warren Buffett’s Companies Expand Investment in Uzbekistan

October 22, 2024
By Sadokat Jalolova

Uz500, a wealth advisory and private sector development organization focused on Uzbekistan, Eurasia, and the wider Global South, is to analyse direct foreign investments in Uzbekistan, starting with billionaire Warren Buffett.

Since 1965, Buffett has transformed Berkshire Hathaway into a trillion-dollar company, primarily investing in American businesses. Currently, Berkshire owns stakes in eight non-US companies, including five major Japanese firms and China’s BYD. Notably, half of these companies have expanded their presence in Uzbekistan, launching major energy, infrastructure, and manufacturing projects.

Last month, the Sumitomo Corporation announced its agreement to acquire a 49% stake in several renewable energy assets in Uzbekistan from ACWA Power, a company listed in Saudi Arabia. Through this ACWA-Sumitomo partnership, they aim to develop 2.5 GW of renewable energy (solar and wind) and 968 MW of battery storage capacity in Uzbekistan, with a total investment of $4.2 billion.

In August 2024, an international consortium of TAQA Water Solutions, Marubeni, and SUEZ signed a $1 billion joint development agreement with the Government of Uzbekistan to build the CIS region’s largest wastewater treatment facility in Tashkent. Meanwhile, Mitsubishi’s advanced power equipment is responsible for 90% of Uzbekistan’s large-scale gas-fired generation, including Navoi 1, 2, and 3 and the $2.5 billion Sirdarya 1 and 2 combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power projects.

The first EVs were produced at the BYD Uzbekistan JV plant in June 2024. While the world’s largest EV maker announced or started building its plants in Thailand, Brazil, Turkey, and Hungary, BYD Uzbekistan became BYD’s first operational overseas plant.

Uz500 predicts that Japanese companies Itochu and Mitsui, part of Berkshire Hathaway’s portfolio, will follow their peers and invest in Uzbekistan, the region’s fastest-growing economy. Their investments could include acquiring renewable energy or infrastructure assets from ACWA Power or Masdar or forming joint ventures to develop uranium and mineral resources. Mitsubishi, Sumitomo, and Marubeni are also expected to increase their investments through more projects and acquisitions. As a result, Berkshire’s indirect investment in Uzbekistan (already worth several hundred million dollars) is likely to grow significantly in the coming years.

22 Oct 2024

Central Asia, Uzbekistan, International Affairs, Local Politics, Business & Economy, Uzbekistan Business & Economy, Uzbekistan International Affairs, Uzbekistan Local Politics

Levies on Uzbek Drivers in Afghanistan Reduced

October 22, 2024
By Sadokat Jalolova

According to the Ministry of Transport in Uzbekistan, negotiations with Afghanistan have reduced the levies collected from Uzbek drivers in Afghanistan by 5,000 Afghanis (about $80).

A levy of 12,000 Afghanis (about $180) was previously charged to cross the Amudarya bridge. Since September 28, this amount has been set at 7,000 Afghani (about $100).

The fee for entering Afghanistan with a cargo vehicle, which was 5,000 Afghanis (about $75), has decreased to 3,500 Afghanis (about $55).

According to the announcement, the Ministry of Transport continues to create favorable conditions for cargo transportation through the Trans-Afghan multimodal transport corridor, and to optimize the number of levies.

This transport corridor accelerates and simplifies the increase and processing of transit cargo through Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. In recent years, the volume of transit cargo through Afghanistan has increased by over 30%, reaching almost 1 million tons per year. Following a transit trade agreement between Uzbekistan and Pakistan in 2021, cargo volumes have increased significantly, and in 2022, cargo transportation between the two countries through Afghanistan increased 2.5-fold. This year, Uzbekistan plans to transport more than 1 million tons of cargo through Afghanistan to Pakistan.