After the completion of the first "China-CA" summit in Xi'an, as a result of which the leaders of the participating countries adopted the Xi'an Declaration, Kyrgyzstan is wondering how much Kyrgyzstan benefited from this meeting.
Political scientist Nargiza Muratalieva shared her opinion on this in the Vecherniy Bishkek publication.
"The results of the visit of the President of Kyrgyzstan to China are the signing of a number of agreements, of which the most prominent is the allocation by China of a grant for Kyrgyzstan in the amount of about $42 million for the implementation of priority projects for technical and economic cooperation between the countries, as well as an investment agreement on the construction of a solar power plant in Issyk- Kula region in the amount of 800 million euros.The total amount of agreements for various projects was announced in the amount of more than $1 billion.
The parties also agreed to open a third checkpoint at the Bedel border, which will improve the conditions of throughput and stimulate trade. In addition, an impressive package of agreements was signed in the field of strengthening security, humanitarian cooperation and soft power projects," the expert said.
- Some of our Internet users began to write that Kyrgyzstan, in comparison with other Central Asian countries, remained the least profitable. Do you agree with this opinion?
- "If we evaluate the results of the signed agreements between China and Kyrgyzstan in comparison with such countries as Kazakhstan or Uzbekistan, with which the amount of projects exceeds $20 billion, then it may seem that the results for our country are insignificant. However, such a conclusion would be premature due to the fact that that details on the financing of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway project are expected in the near future, which will require significant investments.
Also hot on the heels of the summit, the possibility of introducing a short-term visa-free regime for a period of 10 days to facilitate trade with China and stimulate tourism is being discussed. Therefore, in my opinion, we will see the full picture of the results after the details of financing the railway project are disclosed," Murataliyeva believes.
CentralasianLIGHT.org
May 23, 2023