Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation

2007 Research Grants

PREFACE

The Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Institute has been established as a virtual institute supported by the CAREC Secretariat and the contributing multilateral institution partners. The CAREC Institute prospectus was endorsed at the Sixth Ministerial Conference on CAREC, 2–3 November 2007, Dushanbe, Tajikistan. The CAREC Institute has three main outputs:

• a capacity-building training program to improve knowledge and skills of government officials in areas related to regional cooperation;
• an applied research program to generate new knowledge, innovation, and recommendations that will support more effective regional cooperation; and
• an outreach program to extend the impact of the institute’s training and research more broadly.

The CAREC Small Research Grants Program is an activity under the CAREC Institute which promotes research by experts from CAREC countries on regional economic cooperation. The applied research focused on regional economic cooperation in energy, agriculture and environment, trade, and transport that is relevant to CAREC participating countries. Small grants of up to $20,000 were awarded through a competitive selection process. The Small Research Grants Program used a competitive selection and a peer review process. It was managed by Natasha Davis, regional cooperation specialist, Asian Development Bank.

The CAREC Institute acknowledges with thanks the contributions of Johannes Linn, Robert Siy, Myo Thant, Cuong Nguyen, Kim Cholgee, Ying Qian, Bayanjargal Byambasaikhan, Haruya Koide, Erdene Oyunchimeg, Naomi Chakwin, Xinjian Lui, Aidana Berdybekova, Laura Shamsutdinova, Maksat Kystaubayev, Bahriddin Asamatov, Lan Wang, Mehri Khudayberdiyeva, and Ma. Cristina delos Santos.

2007 REPORTS

The research reports produced in 2007 are:

• A Study on Mechanisms and Potential for Agricultural Commodities in Central Asia
  Agriculture markets of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan need to be integrated to ensure food security in Central Asia. This integration could be facilitated by eliminating shuttle trade and intermediary chains, having clearer and more organized trade mechanisms and procedures, and developing a regional stock exchange with built-in system of warehouse receipts and agricultural marketing information service.
• Cooperative Study on Eco-Tourism based on Transport Corridor in China and Kazakhstan
  Cooperation in ecological tourism (ecotourism) could help initiate regional economic integration of Central Asia, as seen from the experience between the People's Republic of China and Kazakhstan along their transport corridor. To further promote ecotourism cooperation, among the recommendations are: (i) establish a tourism and environment working group in CAREC, (ii) construct a comprehensive transport system, (iii) develop entertainment facilities of ecotourism cities in Central Asia, and (iv) strengthen the public services networks.
• Gender Aspect of Central Asia Trade Policy in the Context of WTO Accession—Interregional Report
  With trade liberalizing in Central Asia, women will be at a disadvantage compared to men if governments fail to undertake key gender equality measures. Such measures that governments may carry out are to provide vocational training to women, improve the system of continuous capacity building, reduce the needs of certain women groups to be involved in paid work, apply international experience for early retirement, subsidize women employment in trade to encourage voluntary part-time employment, and stimulate small businesses in trade.
• Monitoring of CAR Transport Corridors
  Monitoring activities were conducted in the transport corridors of Central Asia. The recommended steps to improve functional efficiency of these corridors are: governments should fight corruption by entrusting corridor management to controlling agencies, monitoring experience should be expanded to other countries in the region, trade procedures should be simplified, and the role of the business sector in decision making should be strengthened, among others.
• Assessment of Regional Cooperation Opportunities in Renewable Energy Sources Use in the Central Asian Countries—The Case of the Kyrgyz Republic
  The experience of Kyrgyz Republic was highlighted for Central Asian countries to develop a uniform joint strategy in the use of renewable energy sources (RES) and create possible cooperation opportunities. To attain this goal, governments should consider: present the use of RES as a solution to social and economic problems, develop a legal framework with effective implementation laws on RES use, set up government and institutional support structures, and recognize other sources of energy being prioritized by Central Asian countries.
• Analysis of Transit Trade Barriers for Kyrgyz—Transit Transport through the Republic of Kazakhstan
  Using the case between the Kyrgyz Republic and Kazakhstan on the importance of having regional trade and transit facilitation, there are concerns that need to be addressed. Some of these concerns are: prioritize maintenance and upgrade of infrastructure over new construction; tap available resources from governments, international donors, and local and private entities; harmonize border procedures; have regional bodies defend nondiscriminatory transit; implement the TIR Transit System in its fullest; use the World Trade Organization accession negotiations of members as leverage to achieve free transit in neighboring countries; and strengthen public and private dialogue.
• Training in Trade, Transportation and Transit for Better Business between Chinese and Kyrgyz Entrepreneurs
  Chinese and Kyrgyz entrepreneurs participated in a survey to test their knowledge on the issues on trade, transportation, and transit of partner countries. Survey results showed that Chinese entrepreneurs are more concerned about tax system, government regulation of business, and licensing system of the partner country. Kyrgyz entrepreneurs, however, expressed interests to know more about customs procedures, transport regulations, and transit.
• Researching New Opportunities to Develop Transport Infrastructure in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan through Establishment of Modern Transport-Logistic Centers (TLC)
  Creation of transport-logistics centers (TLCs) in Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan could bring new opportunities to transport. These TLCs could provide full transport-freight forwarding service to consumers with “door to door” cargo delivery, strictly observe deadlines for delivery to destination points, optimize logistics schemes for client servicing, minimize the transport cost and final price of products, increase the quality of services by all modes of transport and logistics services, ensure sustainable development of transport communications, attract additional cargo flows, increase the efficiency of a country’s transit capability, and build economic potential of countries in the region.