Kazakhstan’s new parliament reconvened after the election on January 20; Astana to open East-West transnational highway corridor by end of 2013; Britain seeks to step up wide-ranging cooperation with Bishkek; World Bank: Developing states like CARs may fa
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    • According to reports, Kazakhstan’s new parliament reconvened after the election on January 20. The president’s party, the Nur Otan now holds 83 of the 107 seats, Ak Zhol holds 8 and while the Communist People’s Party holds seven. The international election monitors, including those from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), found the Kazakh election process failing in adhering to democratic ethos, while President Nazarbayev lauded the three-party parliament as paving way to democratic development. 1 However, the OSCE report on its finding on Kazakh parliamentary elections was termed unbalanced. 2

    In the meanwhile, Prime Minister Karim Massimov in a report said that Kazakhstan by the end of 2013 will open its part of East-West transnational highway corridor connecting China with Europe. The highway, which will be laid on 1,732 miles of Kazakh territory, consists of a total length of 5,250 miles, linking the Russian city of St. Petersburg at one extreme to China’s eastern seaport city of Lianyungang. 3

    According to reports, Britain seeks to step up wide-ranging cooperation with Kyrgyzstan as it establishes full embassy operations in the country, Britain’s top diplomat told a news conference in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek on January 19, 2012. British Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan David Moran, who is also the UK’s ambassador to Kazakhstan, told in a news conference in Bishkek that Britain seeks to step up wide-ranging cooperation with Kyrgyzstan as it establishes full embassy operations in the country. He reportedly stated, "The planned withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan in 2014 is approaching, so the issues of defense and military cooperation between our countries become more relevant,". 4 In related development, according to reports, Judith Farnworth will take up residence in Bishkek next month as the UK’s first ambassador to work full-time in the Kyrgyz capital. 5

    In another development, reports noted that Russia has transferred military vehicles and communications equipment to Kyrgyzstan mid-January to strengthen the country’s porous borders ahead of the withdrawal of NATO troops from nearby Afghanistan. 6 In the meanwhile, President Almazbek Atambayev of Kyrgyzstan and the chief of State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) Rovnag Abullayev signed a tentative accord to build an oil refinery that will process 2.2 million tons of crude per year.7

    According to reports, the World Bank, in its recently published “Global Economic Prospects 2012” report, warned of a new financial crisis wherein Eurozone crisis is threatening to set off a ‘contagion’ depressing economies throughout the globe hitting the developing countries the hardest. It projects that developing countries’ growth in gross domestic product (GDP), previously projected to grow 6.2 percent in 2012 and 6.3 percent in 2013, may now see respective growths at 5.4 and 6 percent. 8 The report noted that developing states will have a harder time recovering from the imminent economic crisis than they did in the 2008-09 global financial crisis. Part of this reason is slower growth than expected in Russia, which is a critical source of both foreign direct investment (FDI) and remittances for many Central Asian states. 9

    However, according to reports, the National Bank of Tajikistan stated that the remittances from Tajik migrant workers now account for 45 percent of Tajikistan’s GDP. Remittances received by Tajik residents amounted to $6.3 billion, which represents a 33.6 percent increase in funds provided by migrant workers to the Tajik economy compared to 2010 revenue. 10
    In other develoepmts, according to reports, Turkmenistan is one of several nations which have begun offering citizenship to individuals who previously had claims to no country following a UN campaign, a UNHCR expert said on January 20, 2012. The Turkmen government has undertaken a new drive to formally register stateless persons. Reports noted that over 20,000 have been registered. Of these, more than 3,000 have been granted Turkmen citizenship. 11

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