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Regional Cooperation and Integration in Central Asia under CAREC: The Road to Stability and Prosperity

Central Asia lies at the cross-roads of the Eurasian continent. Long-term stability and prosperity depend on how quickly and how effectively Central Asian economies will integrate with each other, and with the rest of the world. Given the landlocked status of the region and the huge distances from the nearest ports, improved transport, trade, and energy linkages will be critical if Central Asia is to connect with its neighbors and beyond.

The Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Program works to improve these linkages by pursuing development through cooperation that will lead to accelerated economic growth and poverty reduction. The seminar presented an update on Eurasian integration as the broad context in which the CAREC Program operates; an overview of the work of the CAREC Program; and an in-depth examination of the Program's Transport and Trade Facilitation Strategy and CAREC's approach to energy cooperation.

The seminar highlighted CAREC's role as a unique instrument for the countries of the region to work together with each other and partner multilateral institutions to plan, implement, and finance in a coherent manner the investments, regulatory institutions, and policy actions needed to support an effective integration process. Presentations are available through the interactive agenda.

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• About 70 representatives from government,
• the private sector,
• academia, and
• broader civil society in Japan attended the seminar.

They were joined by about 30 senior officials from the eight CAREC participating countries

• Afghanistan,
• Azerbaijan,
• People's Republic of China,
• Kazakhstan,
• Kyrgyz Republic,
• Mongolia,
• Tajikistan, and
• Uzbekistan), and
• representatives from CAREC's partner multilateral institutions and the diplomatic community in Japan.