Publications

Our September newsletter covers the inaugural meeting of the Financial Sustainability Working Group, CAREC customs cooperation and regional trade group meetings, CAREC cooperation meeting with historian Peter Frankopan, details of participation in various conferences, workshop on infrastructure investment, and details of two workshop reports.

Dr. Giorgi Khishtovani from the PMC Research Center of Georgia reviewed migration and development and the role of local authorities in Central Asia to leverage migration’s developmental potential. The paper focuses on migration from the southern rim of Central Asia - Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyz Republic - to Russia.

In support of the CAREC Energy Strategy 2030, Ms. Bulganmurun Tsevegjav analyzed challenges and opportunities of regional cooperation in promoting low-carbon energy development in CAREC.

The research findings suggest that agriculture in Central Asia is sensitive to climate change, and the impacts will be more acute after the temperature increase. Results indicate that every degree Celsius increase in annual temperature has resulted in a modest benefit of $4/hectare increase in agricultural net revenue, which amounts to $117 million in total agricultural benefits across Central Asia.

The analysis revealed that across a multitude of indicators such as population growth, economic activity variation, road density differences and change of land use, the values within the influence zone of the corridor are heterogenous across countries but significantly higher (Tajikistan being an exception in population growth variable) in comparison with the country-wide averages determined from national statistics.

Our August newsletter provides short descriptions of several workshop proceedings, describes preliminary findings of two more visiting fellows 2020, and gives details of several cooperation discussion which took place in August.

This workshop report summarizes presentations and discussion of the workshop titled “Road Asset Management (RAM) and RAM System” delivered by the CAREC Institute for senior government officials and experts from ministries of transport, rural development, public infrastructure, and other relevant state agencies of the CAREC countries during 10-13 August 2020.

Our July newsletter narrates about research findings of three Visiting Fellows, NFP survey results, economic brief regarding the scramble for the COVID-19 vaccine and many more.

In a new economic brief titled “Resurgence of the Pandemic and Economic Uncertainties: The Global Scramble for a Vaccine,” our Chief Economist Hans Holzhacker writes that the global economy shows some momentums of resumed growth, but they are not solid. There is a lot of good will, and efforts are made, for a “better recovery” from the COVID-19 crisis, and hope for a greener and digitalized economy, which will also lead to more inclusive post-COVID-19 economic order.

This workshop proceedings report summarizes discussions which took place on 28 May 2020 in a virtual workshop on regulatory framework for e-commerce development in CAREC, co-organized by the CAREC Institute and the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) in collaboration with the Asia-Pacific Finance and Development Institute (AFDI).

In a new economic brief, CAREC Institute’s Chief Economist Dr. Hans Holzhacker provides insights in CAREC countries’ mutual trade against the background of the region’s trade with its main trading partners Russia, the EU, and the PRC.

In this issue, we tell about our strategy 2022 mid-term review, financial sustainability approach, announcement of Pakistan’s voluntary contribution toward the Institute, new economic brief on intra-CAREC trade, webinar on high-quality development and modernization, several new ongoing research, and many more.

Our workshop proceedings report summarizes presentations and discussion of the workshop titled “Meeting Environmental Objectives through Energy Sector Reforms in Asia and the Pacific: Role of Energy Pricing Reforms and Emissions Reduction,” jointly organized by CAREC Institute and the Asian Development Bank Institute during 22-24 June 2020 through an online arrangement

The CAREC Institute workshop proceedings report on “Climate Change Regional Policy Dialogue: Learning from the COVID-19 Pandemic” of 18-19 June 2020 provides detailed information about climate-informed investment options; integration of environmental, social, and governmental (ESG) issues in climate change policies; influence of COVID-19 on green bonds; cooperation platforms, etc.

The workshop report on the elements of road safety engineering summarizes the CAREC Institute’s online workshop of May 2020 for Mongolia’s Ministry of Road and Transport Development, traffic police, and road safety professionals. It also shares lessons and recommendations for future consideration.

The paper recommends further analysis for examining capability gaps of specialized governance structures at national levels, and regional focus of international cooperative platforms.