Central Asia

In Dushanbe, the country’s history is on display, from the Stone Age to the Middle Ages. The museum is celebrating its 25th anniversary and is one of the country’s leading cultural centres. The Buddhist sculptures from Ajina Tepe hold a special place. One of its main activities is the conservation of archaeological finds.

US companies Firebird and Nvidia want to turn Ekibastuz, a city in the country’s northeast, into a computing hub serving international markets. However, Kazakhstan’s power grid is currently unable to meet domestic demand, forcing it to rely on imports.

Initiatives to protect snow leopards were cited by the UN as exemplary cases at the Yerevan Biodiversity Conference. According to the Global Progress Report, the world’s largest restoration area is in China, covering 127.4 million hectares. Significant projects are also underway in Mongolia and Kazakhstan.

New funding from the World Bank for the Rogun hydroelectric power station, currently under construction in the narrow gorge of the Vakhsh River. With a planned height of 335 metres, it will double Tajikistan’s power generation capacity. The flooding of upstream areas will force the evacuation of over 50,000 people.

The Tashkent government plans to divest from 84 major companies and economic entities worth over 8 billion dollars, with the aim of attracting foreign capital and promoting the country’s modernisation. However, past experience highlights the risks of corruption and nepotism.

At the meeting of the assembly comprising the parliaments of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey, Astana put forward the idea of developing a framework to create a digital network and a joint artificial intelligence centre amongst the four countries linked by linguistic and cultural affinities.

In Ashgabat, the daughters of Berdymukhamedov (Turkmenistan), Aliyev (Azerbaijan) and Mirziyoyev (Uzbekistan) discussed cooperation on the environment and health and opened an international art exhibition. An iconic event reflecting the family succession of power and the portrayal of women in Central Asian regimes.

With their stable bloc of votes, Shas and United Judaism in the Torah have been key allies for Netanyahu. But the row over the conscription of yeshiva students has shaken things up. And today, a (minority) reformist religious party, headed by a woman, is also standing for election.

In Berlin, the President of Kazakhstan once again praised the Kremlin leader, describing him as an “exceptional statesman”. These words are likely intended to appease Moscow whilst he pursues his ongoing efforts to strengthen relations with the European Union and the United States, as well as with China.

According to the OECD’s plenary session on fundamental freedoms, repression is taking on new forms in all five countries in the region, extending increasingly into the digital sphere and beyond national borders.

Once hampered by its lack of access to the sea, Uzbekistan is now capitalising on its geographical location as a new crossroads. It is placing great emphasis on the railway line that is set to link Xinjiang with Andijan via Kyrgyzstan.

The combined GDP of the region’s five countries has grown by almost 2.5 times over the last eight years, whilst mutual investment has increased 5.6-fold. But even beyond the economic sphere, questions are mounting as to what unites these peoples, what they can achieve together in the face of today’s challenges, and what kind of future they envisage.