Digital Connectivity - The Times Of Central Asia

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Digital Connectivity

EU Launches Major Initiative to Boost Digital Connectivity in Central Asia

The European Union has unveiled a major initiative to expand digital connectivity across Central Asia, aiming to bridge the region’s digital divide and promote inclusive socio-economic development, according to the EU Delegation to Kazakhstan. The initiative, part of the EU’s Global Gateway strategy, was formally introduced during the political launch of the Team Europe Initiative (TEI) on Digital Connectivity in Central Asia. It seeks to deepen cooperation with Central Asian governments and accelerate digital transformation through investments in infrastructure, satellite technologies, and human capital. “The Global Gateway and the Team Europe Initiative on Digital Connectivity in Central Asia are opening a new chapter,” said Aleska Simkic, EU Ambassador to Kazakhstan. “Through them, the European Union is connecting remote regions and villages in Central Asia to the internet via satellite connections. Today’s event marks an important milestone in advancing sustainable connectivity and strengthening EU-Central Asia cooperation for the years ahead.” The TEI will be implemented through two core components. The Soft Pillar, known as the C4CA Project, will be carried out by a consortium of EU cooperation agencies led by Expertise France. It will focus on promoting safe and inclusive satellite connectivity, especially for women, youth, and marginalized groups, while supporting broader socio-economic inclusion through improved digital access. The Hard Pillar, titled “Satellite Connectivity for Underserved Populations of Central Asia,” will be coordinated by the European Investment Bank and implemented by satellite operator SES. This component will finance and deploy satellite constellations and ground infrastructure to deliver high-speed internet to remote and underserved areas, boosting access to education, healthcare, and business opportunities. “Connectivity, in all its forms, whether digital, infrastructural, or economic, lies at the heart of today’s global challenges,” said Sylvain Guiaugue, France’s Ambassador to Kazakhstan. “Working hand in hand with our partners in Central Asia, the consortium led by Expertise France will help develop the policies, skills, and technologies needed to ensure equal access to digital services and innovation.” EU officials emphasized that the initiative aligns with the national digital strategies of Central Asian countries and represents a pivotal step in fostering long-term regional cooperation. Governments across the region voiced strong support for the program, highlighting its strategic importance for Central Asia’s sustainable and connected future.

Organization of Turkic States

The Turkic States Are Quietly Building a Geoeconomic Power Base

The Organization of Turkic States (OTS) has spent the past years assembling itself not through declarations or summit communiqués, but through shared transport and logistics, harmonized customs procedures, and coordinated capital flows. What began in 2009 as the Turkic Council, a lightly institutional and rhetorically cohesive forum for shared identity, has evolved, following its 2021 transformation into the OTS, into a logistical and regulatory organism. Its under-the-radar evolution has been systematized through agreed documents, deployed capital, and materialized infrastructure. The OTS has entered a phase of procedural coordination and structural intent. Its cooperation is now practical, strategic, and functionally embedded. This evolution has not followed a single arc, nor has it merely responded to outside pressures. Instead, it has progressed through an uneven sequence of internal adjustments, sometimes slow and technical, sometimes accelerated by external jolts such as the recent disruption in Azerbaijani–Russian relations. But such jolts only intensified a trajectory already underway. Member states had been converging long before this most recent bilateral crisis by aligning their policies, testing instruments, and developing the practical grammar of multilateral coordination. The current phase of renewed cooperation is not a reactive surge but a prepared transition that expresses an underlying structural shift in Eurasian geoeconomics at large. Digital Infrastructure and Networked Cooperation If there is a single domain where institutional convergence becomes immediately visible, this would be digital logistics. Once-fractured national processes — disjointed customs systems, mismatched permits, bureaucratic duplication — have begun to fold into a shared administrative architecture (including eTIR, eCMR, and ePermit) structured by international conventions that have been adapted to fit the particular alignments now emerging in the Turkic sphere. These procedures are no longer pilot projects but live systems. They digitize paperwork, synchronize border procedures, and build the kind of operational rhythms that trade corridors need in order to function. Negotiations continue, meanwhile, on a Free Trade in Services Agreement, targeted not at deregulation but at harmonization, viz., the alignment of technical and professional standards across a disparate set of economies. Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, for example, are already piloting a Simplified Customs Corridor. Its eventual integration with the multimodal Uzbekistan–Türkiye axis is not a matter of if, but of how soon. Official observer states to the OTS are also beginning to move, with Hungary being the clearest case. Its $100 million injection into the Turkic Investment Fund made headlines, but the real story is downstream: Hungarian infrastructure now receives Azerbaijani gas via Türkiye. That is not diplomacy; that is energy dependence, structurally routed. Turkmenistan, long the holdout, has started to engage, first through planning meetings and now through signed agreements. Its ports, once idle in regional plans, are being fitted into the wider Caspian logistics network. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), formally recognized only by Türkiye, is also a functional participant through educational exchanges, shared language, and soft institutions. Reciprocal Trade and Development The shift underway is as much geographic as it is institutional. Central Asia is no longer on the margins of the OTS...

Economic Cooperation

EU-Uzbekistan Cooperation Focuses on Digital Connectivity and Critical Raw Materials

On March 18, European Commissioner for International Partnerships Jozef Síkela visited Uzbekistan on the final leg of his Central Asia tour. In Tashkent, he met with President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to strengthen the growing partnership between Uzbekistan and the European Union. According to the EU Delegation to Uzbekistan, discussions centered on expanding digital connectivity, promoting sustainability, and fostering job creation through critical raw materials. Another key focus was the development of the Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor to enhance trade. The visit also highlighted how the EU’s Global Gateway strategy supports infrastructure and clean energy initiatives. Both sides acknowledged the increasing momentum in EU-Uzbekistan relations, particularly in political, trade, economic, investment, cultural, and humanitarian cooperation. They also discussed preparations for the first-ever Central Asia-EU summit, set to take place in early April in Samarkand. New EU-Funded Projects in Uzbekistan As part of the Team Europe Initiative on Digital Connectivity in Central Asia, Síkela witnessed the signing of agreements for two key EU-funded projects aimed at improving digital infrastructure across the region: The Connectivity for Central Asia (C4CA) Project - This initiative seeks to enhance digital infrastructure and regional integration, supporting economic growth and better access to online services. By fostering stronger digital ties among Central Asian countries, the project aims to bridge the digital divide and promote economic cooperation. The Satellite Connectivity for Underserved Populations Project - This project is designed to provide high-speed internet access to remote and underserved communities in Central Asia. By improving digital access in rural areas, the initiative supports education, healthcare, and economic development, aligning with the EU’s broader goal of promoting inclusive digital connectivity. Síkela underscored the importance of EU-Uzbekistan cooperation in improving internet access across the region. “European technology combined with Uzbek expertise can ensure more people have access to fast and secure internet, support businesses to grow, create new jobs, and improve living conditions in local communities. By investing in digital connectivity, we're bridging gaps, creating opportunities, and ensuring that Central Asia is ready to benefit from the digital economy,” he said. Cooperation on Critical Raw Materials During his visit, Síkela also toured the Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Complex, one of Uzbekistan’s key industrial facilities. The visit aimed to explore opportunities for sustainable resource development and responsible investment in critical raw materials, further strengthening economic cooperation between the EU and Uzbekistan.