Central Asian countries are not competitors, but complement each other and should use this advantage to attract investment. This was stated on Thursday by Kazakhstan's Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Yerulan Zhamaubayev at the Central Asian Investment Forum taking place in Tokyo.
"Our economies are not competitors, but complement each other. And this strength should be used to attract investment in our joint projects," he said, noting that there are prerequisites for this. "Last year alone, interregional trade increased by 34% to over $6 billion, and this is not the limit," said the vice premier.
According to Zhamaubayev, the countries of the region are now working on many joint projects, including industrial cooperation, the creation of an investment fund, projects in the transport sector and simplification of customs corridors.
In his turn, the head of the Kyrgyz Cabinet of Ministers Akylbek Zhaparov noted that his country and the whole world is "on the threshold of global transformation". At the same time, according to him, "changing the balance of the world economy leads to a shift of its center of gravity" from the West to Asia. "Asia is becoming the world's economic leader in terms of nominal GDP growth, in terms of purchasing power parity. The geography of Asia's trade turnover has become much larger than that of the United States," he added.
In her speech, President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Odile Renaud-Basso also noted that the changing geopolitical situation in the world makes Central Asian countries attract more attention in terms of business and investment.
The Central Asia Investment Forum is held under the theme "Building bridges for sustainable growth". It is organized by the EBRD in cooperation with the Government of Japan, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
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Based on materials from TASS