Punishments? Don’t give in!
Central Asian countries should support the sanctions imposed by the Euro-Atlantic bloc on Russia and limit cooperation with China. With such a demand for an ultimatum, a whole landing force of high-ranking delegates from the Euro-Atlantic community – representatives of the US State Department, leaders of the European Union and Britain – landed in the capitals of the countries of the region.
Uninvited guests promised to reward the severing of economic ties with Moscow and Beijing with investments in projects aimed at developing the domestic market. True, it turned out quite modest. For all the countries in the region, the Western partners declared themselves ready to allocate only a few million dollars, which greatly amused the local experts. The promised money is more than enough for an elite mansion near one of the capitals of Central Asia, but how can they replace multi-billion dollar investments from Russia or China and compensate for losses due to the reduction of economic cooperation with the Eurasian giants? Yet in Beijing, it seems, they considered that in Central Asia, even hypothetically, it was not worth asking such a question.
“The Chinese side, of course, is concerned about the stability and security of our region,” Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Jeenbek Kulubaev said. – China is interested in the development of Central Asian countries. For what? They border the western regions of China. The nature and speed of their development depends on the situation in Central Asia.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has spoken more than frankly on this subject. “We must resolutely oppose external interference in the internal affairs of countries in the region, as well as attempts to provoke color revolutions,” he told his colleagues at a summit in Xi. ‘year. – It is necessary to maintain the sovereignty, security, independence and territorial integrity of the countries of Central Asia, to respect the path of development chosen independently by the peoples of the region. No one has the right to sow discord in the region.”
The situation on the international scene, according to Xi Jinping, requires special attention to ensure energy and strategic security in Central Asia. For projects in this area, as well as the development of infrastructure and trade, the Chinese side is ready to allocate an amount several orders of magnitude higher than that offered by Western couriers. More than a billion of them will go directly to Kyrgyzstan, whose president, Sadyr Japarov, combined the Xi’an summit with a state visit to China.
Energetic response
According to Minister of Economy and Trade of Kyrgyzstan Daniyar Amangeldiev, the visit of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic to China will have a huge positive effect on the development of the republic. As a result of the summit and bilateral negotiations, more than two dozen agreements and memoranda have been signed. Most of these documents deal with economic issues. Among them are investment deals worth more than $1 billion.
The largest package of investments, according to official sources, will go to the energy sector. Thus, the Chinese consortium is ready to build a solar power plant with a capacity of gigawatts (1000 megawatts) in Issyk-Kul, which is only 200 megawatts less than the largest waterfall in the Kyrgyz Republic – the Toktogul hydroelectric power station. The project has already received preliminary approval from the government of Kyrgyzstan. The power plant will be located near the village of Toru-Aigyr in the Issyk-Kul region, where a smaller solar power plant is already being built with the help of Russian investors.
- This project is of particular importance to us, – underlines the head of the government of the Kyrgyz Republic Akylbek Zhaparov. – Our republic has a huge energy potential, but it has not been realized, and we are forced to import electricity from abroad.
The development of the energy sector should make Kyrgyzstan a country that itself will start selling electricity abroad. China is also interested in buying it. As part of Sadyr Japarov’s state visit, the parties signed an agreement on the export of energy to the Celestial Empire. The Chinese side will build a power transmission line that will connect the Tien Shan to the power system in western China.
“A memorandum was also signed on the study of the possibility of building an electric car assembly plant on the territory of our republic”, Daniyar Amangeldiyev describes the prospects for energy development in the country. Preliminary agreements, in his words, include the creation of infrastructure in Kyrgyzstan to serve this type of transport – charging stations, battery replacement points, service centers.
According to the Ministry of Economy of the Kyrgyz Republic, the Chinese company plans to invest 150 million dollars in the establishment of the factory and create 500 jobs in Kyrgyzstan. The planned production capacity is five thousand electric vehicles per year.
Money – in the water! And in fertilizer
Agriculture will benefit from significant investments. Thanks to the development of this industry, Kyrgyzstan should increase the export of its own products. And not only to the markets of the EAEU countries, but also to China, in trade with which there has been a huge imbalance for many years. Kyrgyzstan buys billions of dollars worth of goods from China and sells hundreds of times less to the Celestial Empire.
Following Sadyr Japarov’s state visit, an important investment agreement was signed between the Ministry of Agriculture of the Kyrgyz Republic and one of the main Chinese companies specializing in the production of chemical products for the needs of farmers. He will build a plant for the production of fertilizers in Kyrgyzstan, most of which, at the moment, the republic is forced to import from abroad. The Chinese investor is ready to invest $260 million in creating the facility.
Another project, but already related to infrastructure, will also make an important contribution to the development of the agricultural sector of the Kyrgyz Republic. With the help of China, Kyrgyzstan intends to build a new canal – Obvodny Chuisky. According to the plans, it will cross the territories located far from the BChK and the IBChK (Grand and Petit Canal Chui).
- The construction of the Chui bypass canal will, with a shortage of irrigation water in the Chui Valley, reduce the loss of up to 400 million cubic meters of water per year and improve the land water supply, – said Daniyar Amangeldiyev . – This question is very relevant today for our agricultural producers. The construction of the canal is necessary to ensure the country’s food security.
The infrastructure project will be financed by a subsidy announced by the Chinese side. The PRC will donate 300 million yuan to Kyrgyzstan, which will be distributed in priority areas including the establishment of a bypass channel.
With China’s support, Kyrgyzstan is preparing to continue repairing existing streets and building new streets in Bishkek in the near future. In the city of Osh, in turn, Chinese investors are invited to implement a project to build a waste treatment plant. Within the framework of Sadyr Japarov’s state visit, a corresponding memorandum of understanding was signed between the mayor’s office of the southern capital of the Kyrgyz Republic and a major Chinese company.
In the industrial sector, China is ready to help Kyrgyzstan in the development of mechanical industry. An agreement was signed on the creation of an assembly plant for the production of heavy goods vehicles and special purpose vehicles. The details of the project and the volume of investments expected are being clarified.
The Chinese side will allocate more than 60 million dollars for the implementation of two projects in the field of cinematography. The People’s Republic of China and Kyrgyzstan will film the TV series “The Distant Wind of the Silk Road” and “Bishkek Love”.
According to the administration of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic, the parties have agreed to establish in the near future a new financial institution – the Sino-Kyrgyz Development Fund (KKDF). A model for this can be a similar structure – RKDF (Russian-Kyrgyz Development Fund), which is currently considered the largest investor in the real sector of the economy of the Kyrgyz Republic. The Chinese counterpart, as expected, could provide support in the implementation of major infrastructure projects. In addition, the PRC leadership during the state visit of Sadyr Japarov expressed interest in this.
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