World Bank President and former US diplomat Robert B. Zoellick met with President Nazarbayev and the Kazak government this week to discuss several joint World Bank/Kazak projects. The two sides announced plans to jointly finance a $2.5 billion road project to help upgrade the trade routes between Asia, especially China, Russia, and all the way into Europe. This road project is part of a $7.5 billion deal to improve the 2,800 km road corridor from Kazakhstan's border with China (Khorgos) to the border with Russia (Syrm). This project is set to start in 2009. Bob Zoellick had this to say:
“Following part of the ancient Silk Road that linked East and West, this project will establish a modern transport corridor through Kazakhstan. It will boost Kazakhstani trade, competitiveness, logistics, and infrastructure connections wit the world, while providing an artery for regional cooperation.”
There is great hope that this transportation project will find ways to incorporate all the nations of Central Asia, especially the impoverished states of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. In other words, the roads would have a trickle-down effect.
The road system in Central Asia has been an important aspect of the region's infrastructure too long neglected and this brings attention to another key project that needs to garner not just attention, but action: the disappearing Aral Sea. The Aral Sea, once the 4th largest lake in the world, has shrunken by about 70 percent in the last 50 years largely due to mismanagement and overuse by the CA states, mainly Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. The rapid shrinking of this vital geographic regional centerpiece has had a multitude of negative effects; damaging fish production, causing high salinity, pollution, lack of fresh drinking water, and desertification that has led to violent sand storms. The World Bank has a $86 million dollar restoration project set to begin at the end of this year and a follow-up project to improve environmental and economic conditions in the Sea's area, but there is great doubt that the Aral Sea will never regain its former size.
UN ambassadors from all 5 CA states have requested help from the international community regarding this issue and plan to introduce a draft resolution on the Sea at the 63rd Session of the next UN General Assembly. Kori Udovicki, head of UNDP's European branch, argued that the situation ‘is probably one of the most acute…environmental crises in the world.’
Also regarding water issues/problems in the CA, officials from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan met in Bishkek from June 10-11 to discuss water sharing issues in the region. Radio Free Europe called the conference not only a ‘failure’, but that it may have actually raised tensions between the nations regarding the free flow of water throughout the region. In short, Tajik and Kyrg, when most of the water in the region flows from, desire to treat water like any other commodity, such as Uzbek, Kazak, and Turkmen's oil and gas reserves, and receive some compensation. A difficult issue to say the least.
(Photo: Wikipedia)
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