JULY 8 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan’s government voted to scrap import duty and VAT on a series of oil-based products used in the construction and road-building sectors, media reported. These products include petroleum bitumen which is used as asphalt to build roads. Duties on these products are due to be scrapped on Jan. 1 2014.
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(News report from Issue No. 143, published on July 15 2013)
JUNE 17 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Plans have emerged to build an 88-storey complex in Astana, the Kazakh capital. Media reported that the Abu Dhabi Plaza will cost $1.1b to build and will be the tallest building in Central Asia. The plans show that there is still appetite for ambitious building projects in Astana.
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(News report from Issue No. 140, published on June 24 2013)
APRIL 28 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakh industry minister Asset Issekeshev said on a visit to Dubai that the Dubai-based port operator DP World has pledged to invest $1b into Aktau port and the Khorog-Eastern Gates free zone area, media reported. Aktau is Kazakhstan’s main Caspian Sea port. The Khorog-Eastern Gates free zone lies on the border with China.
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(News report from Issue No. 133, published on April 29 2013)
OCT. 27 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – It may have been grand-standing, but it was still clear that Tajik president Emomali Rakhmon was pleased.
Mr Rakhmon was opening a new tunnel under a treacherous mountain road that links the north of Tajikistan to the south, when, according to the Russian news agency RIA-Novosti, he said that this was now the shortest route between Asia and Europe.
He was wrong, of course, but the Shakhristan Tunnel is still important. Not only does it improve journey times between Dushanbe, the capital, and Khujand, the second city, but this 5km-long tunnel under the Pamir mountains also underlines China’s commitment to the region.
With funds from Beijing, a Chinese company built the tunnel under a pass which is often closed by snow in the heavy winter months.
Tunnel projects in Tajikistan form just one part of China’s regional strategy. It is investing heavily in Central Asia, building relations by improving transport links, handing out cheap loans and buying up resources.
Across the border from where Mr Rakhmon was admiring his new tunnel, the Uzbek government was also thanking Beijing. It had just borrowed $220m to modernise a heating plant in Tashkent.
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(News report from Issue No. 111, published on Nov. 2 2012)
MAY 19 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – An Uzbek-South Korean joint venture said it had secured a $2.5b loan from a consortium of banks to build a gas plant in the northwest of the country. The planned gas plant at the Surgil field is considered an important part of Uzbekistan’s future energy policy and will create 1,000 jobs.
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(News report from Issue No. 089, published on May 25 2012)
APRIL 27 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – Fond of eye-catching initiatives and with a flair for showmanship, Georgian President Mikheil Saahashvili was in his element on April 21 when he welcomed Donald Trump, the renowned US property developer, to the South Caucasus state.
Mr Trump had flown in from the US (via Istanbul) to unveil plans to build a $250m glittering new tower in Batumi, a town on Georgia’s Black Sea coast. This was the culmination of a deal signed in March 2011 when Mr Saahashvili had been in New York.
The planned 47-storey residential tower may be called Trump Tower Batumi but Mr Trump will only be one of the investors funding the project.
The private investment firm Silk Road Group is leading the push to find financial backing. And so the hard work starts.
Since a short war in 2008 against Russia, Georgia’s economy has rebounded due mainly to a boost in foreign direct investments (FDI) which Mr Saakashvili has lobbied hard for. FDI measured $981m last year compared to $658m in 2009, Reuters reported.
Finding investors for Trump Tower Batumi and completing the project will act as a litmus test for the attractiveness of the Georgian economy.
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(News report from Issue No. 085, published on April 27 2012)
JAN. 25 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) – A property developer in Azerbaijan has applied to the Baku city government for permission to build the world’s tallest tower, the AP news agency reported. Avesta wants to build an office complex with a 1,050m tower at its centre. The tower would be nearly a third higher than the world’s current tallest building.
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(News report from Issue No. 75, published on Feb. 2 2012)
JULY 25 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Keen to reduce its energy import bill, Tajikistan has begun to build its first oil refinery, media reported. Tajikistan imports 90% of its oil from Russia which imposed an export duty tax earlier this year. The new refinery, 30km outside Dushanbe, is set to open in the second half of 2011.
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(News report from Issue No. 50, published on July 27 2011)
JULY 19 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Twenty Turkish companies complained they are owed $1b by Turkmenistan for construction work. Turkmenistan has denied the claims which are potentially damaging for the country’s reputation. Turkmenistan is trying to present itself as favourable for foreign investors.
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(News report from Issue No. 49, published on July 20 2011)
MARCH 10 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – At a glitzy ceremony in New York, US businessman Donald Trump finalised a deal to build the two tallest towers in Georgia. The deal, estimated to be worth about $300m, is important to Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili who wants to attract more foreign investors to Georgia after a war in 2008 with Russia hit investment levels.
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(News report from Issue No. 31, published on March 14 2011)
