JULY 17 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Armenian and Iranian chambers of commerce have signed a deal designed to increase business between the countries, media reported. Armenia has been slowly building ties with Iran. Earlier this month, reportedly under pressure from the US, Georgia scrapped visa-free travel for Iranians.
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(News report from Issue No. 144, published on July 22 2013)
JULY 17 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — At a meeting in Tashkent, Uzbek President Islam Karimov and China’s foreign minister Wang Yi pledged to boost cooperation between the two countries. China has been steadily increasing its economic and diplomatic interests in Uzbekistan. Chinese President Xi Jinping is due to visit Uzbekistan in September.
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(News report from Issue No. 144, published on July 22 2013)
JULY 20 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has said he wants to update Turkmenistan’s foreign investment laws, media reported. Media reports didn’t give specific details of his proposed changes but they did say that the changes would be designed to attract more foreign investment.
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(News report from Issue No. 144, published on July 22 2013)
JULY 15 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — UNICEF, the UN agency for children, said Kazakhstan is on target to hit its millennium goal of reducing infant mortality to two-thirds its 1990 rate. In 2012, infant mortality in Kazakhstan was 19 deaths per 1,000 live births, UNICEF reported.
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(News report from Issue No. 144, published on July 22 2013)
JULY 16 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Underling their close relations, Azerbaijan and Turkey have held joint military exercises, media reported. Azerbaijan and Turkey have signed a series of military agreements since 1992, including the joint manufacturing of long-range missiles.
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(News report from Issue No. 144, published on July 22 2013)
JULY 12 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Japan Oil, Gas and Metal National Corp. (JOGMEC), a state-run company, has signed a deal with Uzbekistan to search for uranium deposits, media reported. The deal underlines Central Asia’s appeal to energy hungry countries in Asia. JOGMEC will search for uranium in the Navoi region, central Uzbekistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 143, published on July 15 2013)
JULY 12 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — At a press conference in Baku, Iran’s ambassador to Azerbaijan, Mohsen Pak Ayin, said he hoped the Aslanduz border crossing would re-open later this year. There are currently five border crossings open between Iran and Azerbaijan. Relations have been strained between the neighbours over the past few years.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 143, published on July 15 2013)
JULY 13 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — German football club Borussia Dortmund paid Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk 24m euro for Armenian footballer Henrikh Mkhitaryan, one of the highest fees paid for a footballer from the former Soviet Union. The 24-year-old has played for the Armenian national team 39 times and scored 11 goals.
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(News report from Issue No. 143, published on July 15 2013)
JULY 11 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan Airlines plans to start a flight to Beijing from Baku in September, media reported. This will be the first direct flight connecting the Azerbaijani and Chinese capitals and could potentially bring more Chinese business to Azerbaijan.
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(News report from Issue No. 143, published on July 15 2013)
JULY 10 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan’s economy yo-yos. Last year, it shrank by nearly 1%; this year estimates predict that it will grow by 7%.
The yo-yo effect depends on political stability, Kyrgyzstan has suffered two violent revolutions since 2005, as well as the health of its biggest industrial project, the Kumtor gold mine. Last year Kumtor, owned by Toronto-listed Centerra Gold, had a poor year and dragged down the entire national economy (it accounts for about 12% of Kyrgyzstan’s GDP).
And mitigating this yo-yo effect is one of the main reasons that international donors have pledged $1.7b in grants and loans to Kyrgyzstan over the next five years.
Earlier this year, the Kyrgyz government, led by President Almazbek Atambayev unveiled an ambitious $13b growth plan. Much of this, the government said at the time, relied on the financial might of Western donors and investors underpinning this ambition.
At a conference in Bishkek on July 10, the World Bank, the IMF and others matched this ambition, giving Kyrgyzstan the chance to stabilise and grow its economy. This should improve the investment environment for foreign companies looking for a foothold in Central Asia too.
The alternative for Kyrgyzstan is more economic, and political, instability
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 143, published on July 15 2013)
