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Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan entering new markets via S.Caucasus fits China's goals - analyst

Transport Materials 11 August 2021 00:01 (UTC +04:00)
Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan entering new markets via S.Caucasus fits China's goals - analyst

BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 11

By Jeila Aliyeva - Trend:

Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan's desire to access to new markets through the transport corridors of South Asia and the South Caucasus strengthens China's objectives in the region, Niva Yau, a researcher at the OSCE Academy in Bishkek who studies China affairs in Central Asia told Trend.

Yau was commenting on news that Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan want to enter new markets through the transport corridors of South Asia and South Caucasus.

"For China, all of these economies in the middle between China and Europe should develop in order for the Belt and Road Initiative to really work, building a strong "Eurasian" economy that's truly connected in terms of logistics but also trade, and human mobility," she said.

Yau said the desire of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan to enter new markets through the transport corridors of South Asia and the South Caucasus is a very predictable step, given the need for these countries to diversify their trading partners and economies.

The analyst pointed out that Turkmenistan since 2018 has been very anxious about China receiving economic sanctions due to trade war with US.

"Turkmenistan has had experiences working with Russia and Iran who also underwent sanctions and the country can't risk another main trade partner being sanctioned, so Turkmenistan has been looking forward to seriously working with Azerbaijan and Turkey, it has also re-opened talks with the EU about exporting gas there," she noted.

"As for Uzbekistan, the country has chosen a diversification path. Uzbekistan can see that Kazakhstan has relied on China to develop its economy and currently Kazakhstan has the regional monopoly over access to global trade via sea via China. Uzbekistan needs to find another access to sea because it can't depend on Kazakhstan," Yau said.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @JeilaAliyeva

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