Silk Road Regional Project

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Silk Road Regional Project
Wojciech Hübner Regional Economic Advisor in
Central Asia Outline and main ideas Type
Capacity Building for Regional Cooperation and
Development
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Silk Road Regional Project

• Cooperation of UNDP Regional Bureaus
• RBEC - RBAP initial financing 50/50
• Beneficiary countries China,
• Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
• Tajikistan Uzbekistan
• National support projects
• Candidates to join Afghanistan, Turkmenistan,
• Expression of interest Pakistan, Korea, Japan

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Silk Road Regional Project

• Phase I
• Silk Road Area Development Programme Phase I
  established a framework for regional cooperation
  between the Central Asian countries of
  Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan
  and China, through the setting up of National
  Coordination Mechanisms (NCMs) and through
  practical working-level activities.

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Silk Road Regional Project

• Phase II
• represents the strategic phase which will
  further consolidate the framework for long-term
  economic cooperation through the realisation of
  concrete results in three inter-related target
  areas
• Trade and Transit
• project will work towards increased levels of
  trade and transit in the region, promoting
  accelerated growth and human development through
  enhancing capacities and institutions
  underpinning economic cooperation among member
  countries within the framework of SCO

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Silk Road Regional Project

• Investment
• project will work towards promotion of
  investment in the region and will aim at
  establishment of a mechanism for facilitating
  investment in the Silk Road area
• Tourism
• project will assist countries in developing a
  regional plan for the sustainable development of
  tourism including the promotion of Silk Road arts
  and crafts, and commitments to sustainable levels
  of tourism development through the establishment
  of an award for UN Silk Road Cities.

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Silk Road Regional Project

• Trade in the region status
• Best known mechanism of integration , only
  recently being discovered
• Traditional structure of flows changes still
  ahead. Efforts to diversify or promote trade have
  brought mixed results.
• Since Soviet times - weak inside the region.
  Unrecorded and illegal
• Numerous barriers - mainly non-tariff, also of
  psychological nature
• China new dynamic factor
• How much of transmission to CA is in place?
• WTO membership.
• Trade pioneering investment flows
• China global giant interested also in CA

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Silk Road Regional Project

• Investment complex status
• Progress in recent years after low levels in KYR,
  UZB, TAJ
• KAZ most successful, but traditional pattern
• New public private partnerships
• Marketing effort , Agencies
• China giant possibilities and untapped
  potential
• Russian investment in CA
• External perception, governance issues, regional
  not only national perspective

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Silk Road Regional Project

• Tourism sector status
• In CA
• Limited progress, better regulations
  ecotourism, private sector encouraged, but still
  considerable untapped potential
• New wave of interest by Governments e.g. in
  Tajikistan
• China global giant

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Silk Road Regional Project

• Highlights of the whole concept
• Facilitate direct contacts among business
  communities, not only governments like in Phase I
  
• More balance between China and CA, also in the
  management
• Axis Beijing Tashkent
• Cooperation with SCO
• Important long-term expansion and spin-offs
• National support projects
• Ownership issues shaping of constituency

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Silk Road Regional Project

• Key new initiatives
• Investment and Business Forum to become
  regional tradition to be continued
• Silk Road Mayors Forum
• Special awards UNDP Silk Road Cities aiming at
  launching local initiatives, however not only
  accept what has been achieved, but stimulate
  further development. Combine old tradition and
  new urban concepts