Page 20 - Small Stans Outlook 2023

Korean Daewoo Engineering and Construction (E&C) in December
signed a memorandum of understanding on the construction of a
phosphate fertiliser plant and a urea/ammonia fertiliser plant in
Turkmenistan.

5.3 Infrastructure - Kyrgyzstan

A China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan (CKU) railway would be a huge
breakthrough for Kyrgyz trade and investment. Politicians in Bishkek
have for more than two decades dreamt rolling out this infrastructure,
despite the challenge of building a great number of railway bridges
across much of Kyrgyzstan’s mountainous territory. They have dreamt
in vain but last year brought significant moves from China, indicating
that 2023 might be the year when the project, expected to cost
somewhere in the region of $5bn, finally achieves critical momentum.

Former Uzbek foreign minister Abdulaziz Kamilov recently noted, in an
interview with the Financial Times, that by connecting the railways of
Uzbekistan and China via Kyrgyzstan, a direct connection from China’s
Nanjing to Germany’s Duisburg could be achieved.

Another infrastructure project through high-altitude mountains that is on
the horizon is a $90mn Kyrgyzstan-to-Kazakhstan highway. It could
generate $53mn in annual tourism revenues, according to the Kyrgyz
Ministry of Transport and Communications, given how it runs to and
from Issyk Kul lake, a big tourist attraction. The finalised route is Almaty
- Uzynagash - Kastek pass - Karasay-Batyr - Kemin - Issyk-Kul.

20 Small Stans 2023 www.intellinews.com