Central Asia and the BRI
One major geographic characteristic of Central Asian countries is their landlockedness. Being a landlocked economy creates challenges in all spheres of policy – foreign policy, security, international trade as well…
Central Asian aviation sees opportunities in Ukraine crisis
Central Asian airlines are seizing opportunities from Russia’s closed airspace, with airline traffic into the region booming in the year since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, executives and analysts said. Flights…
Turkey tragedy jolts quake-prone Central Asia
When a devastating earthquake and aftershocks struck Turkey and Syria this month, Klara Imangalieva — who lives in the Central Asian country of Kazakhstan — realised she had to move.…
Central Asia strongman regimes challenged by stuttering economy
Pensioner Anna Kovalyova, 63, would struggle to make ends meet on her pension worth $250 if it was not for the subsidies from the authorities in Turkmenistan that make water,…
Don’t call it the Great Game: US renews Central Asia ties
The great cities of the Silk Road were once thriving, cosmopolitan centers for the trade in goods, ideas and culture between the civilisations of Europe and Asia. Today, the world's…
A fresh look at Russia, Central Asian states
In the ranking of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Pakistan, Russia and Central Asian States (CAS) do not figure out at all. The first three positions continue to be held…
Central and West Asia in 2017
After the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991, the five countries of Central Asia – Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan – had their own dictatorships. All of them…
Time for central bank digital currencies to prove their worth
A milestone move by the European Central Bank toward launching a digital euro within a few years means the time has come for the newest incarnation of money to prove…
Bad news for Asian FX, esp PKR
Pakistani monetary authorities can only count their sorrows as King Dollar’s unrelenting advance pushes Asian currencies to lows not seen in months, in some cases years, robbing the Pakistani rupee…
Asia’s worries over currency volatility get in the way of rate cuts
A spurt in the US dollar and China’s defence of the yuan are forcing Asian central banks to step up interventions in their weakening currencies, and one clear casualty is…
