Eight countries in Central Asia have signed-up to a US$ 18.7 billion strategy to develop transport infrastructure in the region. Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and other lending institutions want to make the region a vital transit route for trade between Europe and Asia – a modern-day equivalent of the ancient Silk Road.

According to the ADB, although central Asia lies at the centre of the Eurasian continent, less than 1% of all trade between Europe and Asia currently goes through the region. Inadequate transport infrastructure and cumbersome border processes have resulted in nearly all trade going by sea.

The plan unveiled this month calls for US $18.7 billion to be invested over the next decade in six new transport corridors, mainly roads and rail links. About half of the funds are likely to come from multilateral organisations like ADB, while the rest will come from the countries themselves.

The plan also calls for the improvement of border crossings to speed trade flows. Customs and immigration procedures are currently bottlenecks for trade in the region.

“This is a large and ambitious strategy. It encompasses dozens of projects and will require more than US$ 18 billion in investments over the next decade,” said ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda.

Silk Road

Historically, Central Asia was crossed by multiple routes linking east and west, known as the Silk Road and dating back more than 2000 years. It was an important economic artery that stretched more than 10000 km from the Mediterranean to China''s Yellow River Valley.

The proposed new transport corridors do not follow the exact routes taken by the Silk Road and will not only be orientated east-west, but also north-south, connecting the Central Asian Republics, Russia and China with South Asia and the Gulf.

"Creation of safe and reliable transport corridors, together with measures on simplified trade relations, will provide an opportunity to improve the general investment climate and to increase the rate of economic development of the region,” said Tajik president Emomali Rakhmon.