Schinas tours Central Asia in preparation for Brussels transport forum

European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas is about to complete a tour of the five Central Asian countries in advance of an ‘Investors Forum for EU-Central Asia Transport Infrastructure’, to be held in Brussels on 29-30 January.

Schinas, who holds the portfolio of “Promoting our European way of life”, started his tour by visiting Kazakhstan, the largest territory among the five and the most ambitious in developing its relations with the EU.

The Brussels forum aims to contribute to the long-term objective of making the Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor a multimodal, modern, competitive, sustainable, predictable, smart and fast route linking Europe and Central Asia in 15 days or less.

In the current geopolitical situation, with Russia and Iran targeted by Western sanctions, the importance of the the Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor, also called ‘Middle corridor”, is increasing, and the aim is to overcome bottlenecks, physical or bureaucratic.

The Brief — Central Asia in EU focus?

There are signs that Central Asia is finally getting the attention it deserves from the EU institutions but this is more than business as usual, and the world has changed a lot since Russia invaded Ukraine eight months ago today.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Schinas described Kazakhstan as a “key actor in the region’s positive evolution” and “a beacon in modernisation and reforms”.

As the Astana Times reported, Schinas met with Kazakhstan’s Senate Chairman Maulen Ashimbayev, with whom the issues of trade, economic and investment cooperation, including the development of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, were addressed.

Ashimbayev reported that the EU is a strategic partner of Kazakhstan, and the country remains committed to strengthening bilateral ties.

Schinas also reportedly expressed interest in strengthening relations and commended Kazakhstan’s course towards reforms.

He also met with Kazakh Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov.

“We support a mutual willingness for the progressive development of Kazakh-European cooperation in the spirit of trust and respect,” Smailov was quoted as saying.

According to Smailov, the EU is one of Kazakhstan’s largest trade and investment partners. He noted the EU accounts for nearly 30% of the nation’s foreign trade and around 40% of attracted investments.

Between January and November 2023, trade turnover increased by almost 5%, reaching $38 billion.

According to Smailov, almost 6,000 joint ventures are operating in Kazakhstan, 130 of which were created last year. These indicators, he noted, “highlight the sustainability and attractiveness of the economy for European partners.”

“We call on the European investment community to expand participation in joint projects,” Smailov said.

After Kazakhstan, Schinas visited Kyrgyzstan, where he met the country’s president Sadyr Zhaparov.

Japarov reportedly informed his EU guest about significant infrastructure projects in the country, such as constructing the “China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan” railway.

In a post on X, Schinas said the two focused on the ‘Global Gateway”.

The EU’s Global Gateway programme, launched in December 2001, aims to invest €300 billion by 2027 into infrastructure development worldwide, such as vaccine factories, roads, high-speed internet connection, digitalisation of transport and critical raw material deals.

Marketed as an alternative to the Chinese “debt trap”, the Global Gateway was built to counter Beijing’s €1 trillion Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) investment loans, which were launched 10 years ago to link the world to Beijing in the same style as the ancient Silk Road.

The third stopover was Tajikistan, a country with a long border with Afghanistan, where he met with Prime Minister Qohir Rasulzoda.

In a post on X, Schinas said Tajikistan was an important partner for the EU on everything from investing in connectivity and mitigating climate change to the fight against extremism.

“We discussed the upcoming EU-Central Asia Investors Forum as well as supporting border management with Afghanistan”, Schinas posted.

“The parties also discussed issues of regional security, the situation in Afghanistan, the threat of terrorism and extremism and other important issues”, a communique of the Tajikistan foreign ministry said.

The fourth country visited was Uzbekistan, the most populated Central Asian country, where Schinas was received by the country’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

In a post on X on Tuesday, Schinas called Uzbekistan a “champion of reform”.

Indeed, after he took power after the death of its authoritarian predecessor Islam Karimov, Mirziyoyev implemented a range of liberal reforms in Uzbekistan’s political and economic system by attracting foreign investment, improving relations with neighbouring Central Asian countries, as well as the release of political prisoners.

Schinas has yet to visit Turkmenistan, the only country among the five Central Asian Soviet republics, which largely remains an autocracy and a totalitarian hereditary dictatorship. Turkmenistan’s gas reserves are estimated to be the world’s fourth largest, representing about 10% of global reserves.

Last July, Turkmenistan made waves by announcing it was ready to fundamentally redraw the map of natural gas infrastructure linking Central Asia and the South Caucasus with Turkey and onward to Europe.

[Edited by Alice Taylor]

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