The Evolution of the Kazakhstani Silk Road Section from a Transport into a Logistics Corridor and the Economic Sustainability of Regional Development in Central Asia

Aislu Taisarinova, Giuseppe Loprencipe and Madina Junussova
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Aislu Taisarinova: Faculty of Logistics and Management, Kazakh Academy of Transport and Communications, 97 Shevchenko Street, Almaty 050012, Kazakhstan
Giuseppe Loprencipe: Department of Civil, Constructional and Environmental Engineering, Sapienza University, 18 Via Eudossiana, 00184 Rome, Italy
Madina Junussova: Institute of Public Policy and Administration, University of Central Asia, 138 Toktogul Street, Bishkek 720001, Kyrgyzstan

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 15, 1-20

Abstract: Central Asian countries attract investment in transport infrastructure to rebuild the Silk Road paths and enjoy economic benefits from the participation in international trade. The Kazakhstani government approached the Russian and Chinese governments intending to join the Western Europe–Western China (WE–WC) initiative to boost the country’s regional development. The paper aims to assess how the WE–WC transport corridor affected the economic potential of linking cities and regions starting from the quality of transport infrastructure and leading to their export potential. The study’s findings showed that the Kazakhstan section of the WE–WC corridor was at an early stage of transformation from a transport into an economic corridor. While the Russia-Uzbekistan section continues to serve mainly a transit function and operate at the level of transport infrastructure, the China-Kyrgyzstan section has started evolving from the level of multimode transport corridor to the level of logistics corridor. The economic sustainability of the WE–WC linking mining and agricultural regions of Kazakhstan still comes into question and depends on the government’s further region-specific policy actions.

Keywords: The Silk Road in Central Asia; Western Europe-Western China (WE–WC); international trade; transport corridor; economic corridor; sustainable regional development; economic complexity; regional capability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:15:p:6291-:d:394558

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