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CIAO DATE: 06/06
Central Asia Human Development Report
Johannes Linn
January 2006
Foreword
Central Asia—Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan—is home to almost 60 million people. Located at the center of the vast Eurasian continental space, the countries of this region are today the focus of intense international attention because of their geopolitical and economic importance, their natural and human resources, their transit potential for transcontinental trade and transport, and their unsettled political situation.
Given its landlocked geography, Central Asia is heavily dependent on its immediate neighbours and the international community for access to the rest of the world, for its security, and for support for its economic and social development.
The people of Central Asia and their governments have been remarkably successful in meeting the very difficult problems that they faced following the break up of the Soviet Union. However, much remains to be done to reduce cross-border barriers, to facilitate better use of regional resources, and to ensure that the people of the region benefit from improved links among their countries, with their neighbours and with the rest of the world.
The purpose of this Central Asia Human Development Report is to support the countries in Central Asia, their neighbors and their international partners in working towards greater regional cooperation and integration as a means for achieving sustained human development and human security for the people of Central Asia.
The report draws together evidence on how people in Central Asia are affected by limited regional cooperation and integration, on the benefits from cooperation, and on what is already being done to promote cooperation and the lessons learned. Where possible, the impacts have been quantified, in terms of economic losses and gains, and the number of people involved.
The report argues that increased cooperation among the Central Asian republics will produce large gains by reducing trade costs, increasing remittances from migrant workers, and improving water and energy use. As we have seen from other parts of the world, regional cooperation will especially help the poor in the region, who will on balance gain more from cooperation. By the same token, the cost of non-cooperation will affect them most.
Demonstrating that human and economic costs of non-cooperation in dealing with threats of health epidemics, natural disasters and environmental destruction would be large, the report also maps how closer cooperation could make Central Asia's economy much larger and better off in 10 years. It makes the case, however, that opening borders or reducing trade costs is not enough. Much will also depend on the business climate and the quality of financial services in each country. International experience confirms that reforms also require measures to combat corruption, improve the civil service, and enhance the transparency and accountability of governments.
Since the break up of the Soviet Union, many books, reports and publications have appeared about the historical and contemporary challenges facing Central Asia. Among them was UNDP's 1999 Human Development Report Central Asia 2010: Prospects for Human Development. This new Human Development Report builds on the earlier edition by taking a comprehensive and integrated approach. It weaves together many disparate strands of analysis, policy advice and technical support that have so far been provided in many separate areas (trade and transport, water, energy, environment, health, education, etc.), at many different levels (regional, national, sub-national, community) and by many distinct entities (multilateral institutions; bilateral official donors and partners; regional, national and local authorities; and international and local civil society organizations).
I am extremely pleased that this publication represents a collaborative effort with two key institutions working in Central Asia, the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank, which were directly involved in its preparation.
Developing a consensus and implementing follow-up action for regional cooperation and integration cannot happen overnight. In view of the many obstacles of history, current politics and institutional weaknesses, and bearing in mind the slow progress with similar efforts elsewhere in the world, one must realistically expect that serious progress with regional cooperation and integration will take years, and even decades. However, the hope is that the evidence presented in this report, its recommendations and the follow-up actions it envisages will help foster increased regional cooperation and eventual integration in Central Asia, and so contribute to opening up the region as a more peaceful, prosperous and stable core of an increasingly integrated continental Eurasian economic space.
Kemal Derviş
Administrator, UNDP
