Turkmenistan aims to revitalize the Aral Sea coast; Uzbekistan moves to ban all foreign military bases on territory; Tajikistan begins troop withdrawal from Gorno-Badakhshan; Japan and Kazakhstan sign significant uranium and rare earth minerals deals; Tra
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    • According to reports, Turkmenistan has formulated a plan to prevent the desertification around the shores of the desiccated Aral Sea. The project foresees the development of a green zone around the Turkmen shore of the Aral Sea, once among the largest lakes in the world before Soviet environmental planning caused the sea to shrink.1

    Reports noted that Uzbekistan is looking to prohibit all foreign military bases on its territory. The legislation noted that the Tashkent government will not collaborate with any military activities beyond its borders and will refuse to host any foreign military bases or soldiers on Uzbek territory. However, Uzbekistan is believed to become an active participant in the Northern Distribution Network (NDN) that will allow U.S. and NATO troops to ferry goods and military materiel out of Afghanistan ahead of NATO withdrawal in 2014. 2

    Meanwhile, reportedly, the Tajik government has begun to withdraw troops from the south-eastern Gorno-Badakhshan province after eliminating militants who reportedly killed a regional security official last week. Tajik President Emomali Rahmon sent troops into the isolated southeastern province on July 24, 2012 to retaliate against militants who allegedly killed the security official. Thirty militants were killed after one night of exchanging fire. 3

    According to reports, Japan is increasingly looking to increase uranium imports from Kazakhstan’s to roughly around 40% from the current 3-4%. Japan and Kazakhstan will also jointly build a plant in the northern Kazakhstani city of Stepnogorsk, which will isolate dysprosium, a rare earth metal used in electric and hybrid car engines. The plant is set to export 30 tons of dysprosium to Japan annually, which may increase by next year to 50 tons annually which is close to ten percent of Japan’s yearly demand. 4

    In other developments in the region, according to reports, in 2011, the trade volume between China and Kyrgyzstan amounted to $4.98 billion and grew by 18.5 percent compared to 2010. In the backdrop of a joint intergovernmental commission for trade and economic cooperation meeting in Bishkek, opening of branches of Chinese banks in Kyrgyzstan, construction of a Kazakh-Kyrgyz pipeline, and development of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway were some of the other issues that were discussed. 5

    The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will finance upto US$ 35 million for the construction of a highway in Tajikistan that aims to connect Europe and Asia. The 38 mile road forms part of the CAREC [Central Asian Regional Economic Cooperation] III Corridor. 6

    Kazakhstan’s bilateral trade turnover with member countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) soared by 31.7 percent to $4.7 billion in the first half of 2012 compared to the same period last year. Trade with the 10-country alliance of former Soviet republics amounts to 12 percent of Kazakhstan’s overall business dealings. 7

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