This week, Central Asian media outlets covered a Kazakhstani government initiative to promote the development of creative economy in the country and the expansion of Kazakhstan’s regional soft power influence; the signing of a $70 billion free trade agreement between Iran and the EAEU; Kazakhstan’s removal of the Taliban from a list of prohibited organizations; Uzbekistan’s efforts to promote energy security through the construction of power plant facilities; Tajikistan’s efforts to develop a green economy and to protect its cultural heritage, and the Taliban government’s initiative to promote further cooperation with Central Asia.
The two-day Digital Bridge 2023 forum in Astana. Source: digitalbusiness.kz
The Kazakhstani government augmented an ongoing effort to develop the country’s Creative Economy by cooperating with UNESCO. This initiative centers on the development of the economic sector that is dependent on the arts and the country’s cultural heritage products, to which one percent or 95,000 of the country’s jobs are connected. This further includes the formalization of artistic spaces within the country’s economy and the development of Kazakhstan’s artistic talent pool (Astana Times). Through cooperation with UNESCO, Kazakhstan further hopes to expand its role within the Central Asian region, with the expansion of its UNESCO Almaty cluster office into a Regional-multi sector office, which covers the Central Asian states, in addition to Pakistan and Iran (Kaz Inform).
Meanwhile, Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently announced that it will be removing the Taliban from a list of prohibited organizations, which had disqualified the Taliban from operating within the borders of Kazakhstan and disallowed Kazakhstani officials from conducting business with Taliban representatives. This all changed with an end-of-year announcement from Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which announced that the Taliban was no longer a banned organization – paving the way for future diplomatic recognition between Kazakhstan and Afghanistan’s de facto ruling government. The justification for this change, according to a foreign ministry spokesperson, is that Kazakhstan is justified in striking the Taliban from the list, given that the UN Security Council does not view the group as a terrorist organization. (Kazakhstan Today). Before this formal decision, Kazakhstan had already made indications that it would slowly provide more recognition to the Taliban government, exemplified by increasing foreign aid to Afghanistan and allowing Taliban representatives to occupy the old Afghan embassy in Astana (Kursiv Media).
Elsewhere, Iranian ministers met in Saint Petersburg at the end of December to finally sign a free trade agreement (FTA) that was two years in the making with representatives from the Eurasian Economic Union. The deal provides greater access to Iranian goods to the states of Central Asia and access to trade on the Persian Gulf via the Caspian Sea (Tehran Times). The deal seeks to promote tariff-free trade for 90% of the goods that cross the EAEU bloc’s borders for Iran – for Kazakhstan, this accounts for over USD 521 million in trade turnover (Astana Times). In the following weeks, the agreement must be ratified in the parliaments of the EAEU member states to be brought into law, though state ministers are confident in passing this measure, with the goal of raising bilateral trade to USD 30 billion annually (Tehran Times).
Back in Central Asia, Uzbekistan’s President commissioned six solar and wind energy plans across the country at the end of the year. These plants, which are joint ventures between the Uzbekistani and Chinese governments, cost a total of USD 4 billion and will provide power to two million homes across the country while enabling Uzbekistan to move away from environmentally damaging coal and gas power (Uzbekistan Daily). Speaking at the ceremonies, President Mirziyoyev stated that these green energy efforts were necessary to ensure Uzbekistan’s energy security while mitigating the impacts of climate change. This is particularly significant given that the President announced a plan to double the country’s industrial output by 2030 while maintaining a COP28 promise to triple green energy generation (Tashkent Times).
Tajikistan’s Rahmon sought to strengthen his government’s tourism potential and economic prospects by pushing through a series of reforms that would create a green energy commission, a cultural heritage working group and plans to improve the country’s position as a major transit hub, announced at the end of 2023. The first creates the Agency for Preservation of Cultural and Historical Heritage. This agency will protect, upkeep, and promote foreign tourism within Tajikistan, which hopes to exponentially increase the number of tourists visiting the country up from 1.2 million in 2023 (Asia Plus Tajikistan). This effort coincides with major dam constructions, including an expansion of the Roghun dam, which will be completed by 2025, supplying energy to the greater region and developing a green economy in Tajikistan (Asia Plus Tajikistan). Likewise, Rahmon has prompted the creation of new highways, connecting China to Pakistan and Afghanistan through Tajikistan, through a 26 billion Somoni investment package (Asia Plus Tajikistan). These efforts indicate that Tajikistan is trying to build its connectivity both within the region and on the global stage.
At the end of the year, Taliban officials have pushed for the establishment of bilateral agreements between its Kabul-based government and the states of Central Asia, following two years of Central Asian states not recognizing Afghanistan’s de facto rulers. Among these agreements, the Taliban announced the sale of electricity to Turkmenistan, which is mainly generated through hydropower plants on the Amu Darya River (Pajhwok). Likewise, Uzbekistan and the Taliban standardized fare rates for cross-border transit for the first time in 2024 (Tolo News). In a further measure of recognition between the Taliban and Uzbekistani governments, a Taliban delegation departed for Tashkent from the group’s Ministry of Aviation to develop air transport links between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan for the first time since Ashraf Ghani’s government fell in 2021 (Ariana News). These efforts indicate that Central Asian governments are taking decisive steps to work further with the Taliban government, with the potential for the states to recognize the de facto rulers of Afghanistan in the near future.
Meanwhile, Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently announced that it will be removing the Taliban from a list of prohibited organizations, which had disqualified the Taliban from operating within the borders of Kazakhstan and disallowed Kazakhstani officials from conducting business with Taliban representatives. This all changed with an end-of-year announcement from Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which announced that the Taliban was no longer a banned organization – paving the way for future diplomatic recognition between Kazakhstan and Afghanistan’s de facto ruling government. The justification for this change, according to a foreign ministry spokesperson, is that Kazakhstan is justified in striking the Taliban from the list, given that the UN Security Council does not view the group as a terrorist organization. (Kazakhstan Today). Before this formal decision, Kazakhstan had already made indications that it would slowly provide more recognition to the Taliban government, exemplified by increasing foreign aid to Afghanistan and allowing Taliban representatives to occupy the old Afghan embassy in Astana (Kursiv Media).
Elsewhere, Iranian ministers met in Saint Petersburg at the end of December to finally sign a free trade agreement (FTA) that was two years in the making with representatives from the Eurasian Economic Union. The deal provides greater access to Iranian goods to the states of Central Asia and access to trade on the Persian Gulf via the Caspian Sea (Tehran Times). The deal seeks to promote tariff-free trade for 90% of the goods that cross the EAEU bloc’s borders for Iran – for Kazakhstan, this accounts for over USD 521 million in trade turnover (Astana Times). In the following weeks, the agreement must be ratified in the parliaments of the EAEU member states to be brought into law, though state ministers are confident in passing this measure, with the goal of raising bilateral trade to USD 30 billion annually (Tehran Times).
Back in Central Asia, Uzbekistan’s President commissioned six solar and wind energy plans across the country at the end of the year. These plants, which are joint ventures between the Uzbekistani and Chinese governments, cost a total of USD 4 billion and will provide power to two million homes across the country while enabling Uzbekistan to move away from environmentally damaging coal and gas power (Uzbekistan Daily). Speaking at the ceremonies, President Mirziyoyev stated that these green energy efforts were necessary to ensure Uzbekistan’s energy security while mitigating the impacts of climate change. This is particularly significant given that the President announced a plan to double the country’s industrial output by 2030 while maintaining a COP28 promise to triple green energy generation (Tashkent Times).
Tajikistan’s Rahmon sought to strengthen his government’s tourism potential and economic prospects by pushing through a series of reforms that would create a green energy commission, a cultural heritage working group and plans to improve the country’s position as a major transit hub, announced at the end of 2023. The first creates the Agency for Preservation of Cultural and Historical Heritage. This agency will protect, upkeep, and promote foreign tourism within Tajikistan, which hopes to exponentially increase the number of tourists visiting the country up from 1.2 million in 2023 (Asia Plus Tajikistan). This effort coincides with major dam constructions, including an expansion of the Roghun dam, which will be completed by 2025, supplying energy to the greater region and developing a green economy in Tajikistan (Asia Plus Tajikistan). Likewise, Rahmon has prompted the creation of new highways, connecting China to Pakistan and Afghanistan through Tajikistan, through a 26 billion Somoni investment package (Asia Plus Tajikistan). These efforts indicate that Tajikistan is trying to build its connectivity both within the region and on the global stage.
At the end of the year, Taliban officials have pushed for the establishment of bilateral agreements between its Kabul-based government and the states of Central Asia, following two years of Central Asian states not recognizing Afghanistan’s de facto rulers. Among these agreements, the Taliban announced the sale of electricity to Turkmenistan, which is mainly generated through hydropower plants on the Amu Darya River (Pajhwok). Likewise, Uzbekistan and the Taliban standardized fare rates for cross-border transit for the first time in 2024 (Tolo News). In a further measure of recognition between the Taliban and Uzbekistani governments, a Taliban delegation departed for Tashkent from the group’s Ministry of Aviation to develop air transport links between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan for the first time since Ashraf Ghani’s government fell in 2021 (Ariana News). These efforts indicate that Central Asian governments are taking decisive steps to work further with the Taliban government, with the potential for the states to recognize the de facto rulers of Afghanistan in the near future.
