Central Asia has an exceptional chance to become a crossroads between huge markets.
Victor Lebedev, Head of the Strategic Projects Directorate of the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB), made this statement at the session “EDB investment instruments: results and prospects” of the EDB Annual Meeting and Business Forum in Almaty, the Trend correspondent reported on Friday.
“Our countries are ranked 79-123rd in the world logistics efficiency ranking. Central Asia has an exceptional chance to become a crossroads between major markets. However, this requires huge investments. According to our estimates, $250 billion needs to be invested to provide truly unlimited opportunities for the transport and movement of goods within the region and in transit.”
At the same time, he said the EDB expects trade turnover to increase by 38 per cent by 2030.
“And this is a huge figure. If it is possible to solve all the limitations that exist today in the transport sector, it promises a huge increase in efficiency and a huge increase in trade turnover between countries,” he said.
It will be recalled that the last day of the EDB Annual Meeting and Business Forum started in Almaty. Today, within the framework of the event, three panel sessions and a presentation of the study “Drinking Water Supply and Wastewater Disposal in Central Asia” will be held.