ALGIERS, Algeria, May 20. Middle Corridor will contribute to long-term growth in Central Asia, reads the joint report of the Eurasian Development Bank, the Islamic Bank Institute and the London Stock Exchange Group.
It was presented during the IsDB annual meetings in Algiers, Trend’s special correspondent reports.
“The Central Asian countries are projected to grow slightly
above 5% in 2024- 2025. Additional imputes to long-term growth in
Central Asian countries lie in the Middle Corridor, a Trans-Caspian
trade route enabling multi-modal land and sea connectivity that
effectively connects China with Europe via Kazakhstan, indirectly
connecting them with neighbouring Central Asian countries bordering
Kazakhstan such as Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan (Fanger, 2023). Other
factors boosting the economic growth outlook in Central Asia
include China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the EU’s Global
Gateway strategy (Fanger, 2023) and Eastern
Route of International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC) –
each these transport corridors involve Central Asia as a key
component in the regional and global trade system,” reads the
report.
The authors note that these positive economic fundamentals,
along with growing interest in Islamic finance products and
services in Central Asia, suggest that the prospects for Islamic
finance in Central Asia are
also promising.
“More specifically, they also give reasonable cause for optimism when evaluating international funding prospects for Islamic banks and Ṣukūk issuances in Central Asia”, the document says.