Page 17 - Small Stans Outlook 2024

Russia – and also to and from Europe via Russia – without the necessity of using road and rail links that reach the Russian border through Kazakhstan.
Kyrgyzstan regularly complains about gridlocked traffic at its border with Kazakhstan as Kazakh officials fail to process lines of cargo-laden trucks at the pace that Bishkek expects. Would Turkmen officials do any better? The incentive is there.
4.2 Infrastructure - Tajikistan
Tajikistan continues to direct huge sums to the several-decades-old
multi-billion-dollar Rogun hydroelectric mega project.
A World Bank-coordinated committee of international donors meets to discuss issues of financial support for the 3,600-MW Rogun project, which will include the world’s tallest dam.
One committee member is Eurasian Development Bank (EDB), which is finalising plans to allocate $130mn in financing to the project in the coming year.
The project has already attracted a preferential loan from the Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) worth $500mn, while at the end of October, the Saudi Development Fund announced its readiness to provide a $100mn loan to the project.
Geography and mountainous landscapes dictate that Tajikistan does not enjoy much of a role in facilitating trade flows in and out of China for the wider world, but there are some discussions on directing a “Silk Road” corridor through the Pamir mountains.
Also interesting in terms of trade potential is that China says it is constructing the world’s longest high-speed road tunnel through the Tian Shan mountains partly to boost trade between its northwestern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and Central Asia. The 22-kilometre (13.7-mile) Tian Shan Shengli tunnel will, from October 2025, link the northern and southern halves of Xinjiang, which are divided by the mountain range.
Xinjiang borders eight countries, including Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Pakistan. The province last month reported record-high foreign trade volumes despite facing Western sanctions over its alleged inhumane treatment of the Uyghur people and other ethnic minorities, while Beijing in October announced that it plans to give Xinjiang free trade zone (FTZ) status.
The European Union, meanwhile, is attempting to build up a role for Tajikistan in its Global Gateway infrastructure partnership programme.
In IT and telecoms infrastructure, regulators in Tajikistan in November reportedly admitted that a staggering 95% of the country’s territory is covered by only outdated 2G mobile connections. Efforts to loosen monopolies, and thus speed up the delivery of telecom and internet development, are said to have been ordered. Dushanbe, for instance, is seeking to link with Chinese telecoms infrastructure to improve its internet access and speeds.
17 Small Stans 2023
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