Abstract
Central Asian region includes five Former Soviet Union republics such as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. All countries follow totally different national development strategies. While Kazakhstan and Kyrgyz Republic are outward looking and the most integrated to world economy, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan keep isolationism policy. Since 1991 many Preferential Trade Agreements have been signed in Central Asia. However, the countries could cooperate in only a few areas. Majority of these agreements led to more conflicts and contradictions, which became the beginning of Central Asian disintegration. All countries of the region in their trade policies have largely followed the path of policy autonomy. Thus, this paper analyzes the impact of integration agreements on the regional trade and economy of Central Asia with the special focus on Kazakhstan. The paper also covers the analysis of possible impact of the newly created Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Central Asian countries, taking into consideration that Kazakhstan and Kyrgyz Republic are the member countries of EAEU.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsNotes
- 1.
World Bank (2015) forecasts that Kazakhstan will achieve economic growth at 2.8 % in 2016 and 3.9 % in 2017 if oil prices fluctuate from 57 to 61 USD per barrel.
- 2.
Despite the idea of the Eurasian Union was proposed by the president of Kazakhstan, the EAEU is recognized as the Russia-led integration. Internal conflicts within CA, different strategies of development and competition between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan made the CA integration hardly possible. Thus, Great Powers such as Russia with the EAEU or China with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) push the region for further integration and cooperation. China-led SCO is not an economic integration. Its major goal is tackling the three evil forces such as extremism, international terrorism and separatism. Despite this, China uses the SCO as an umbrella organization, within which it would pursue bilateral economic relations with the Central Asian countries.
- 3.
CAREC program estimated a probability of unofficial payments. Results of the estimation show that 1189 and 94 unofficial payments were made at the border crossing and non-border crossing points respectively. Therefore, the chance of encountering demand for a bribe was equal to 32 %.
References
ADB. (2015). Asian development outlook 2015. Financing Asia’s future growth. [pdf] Accessed August 30, 2015, from http://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/154508/ado-2015.pdf
Agency of Statistics of the Republic of Kazakhstan. [online] Accessed August 20, 2015, from www.stat.gov.kz
Baldwin, R. (1997). The causes of regionalism. The World Economy, 20(7), 865–888.
Bhagwati, J. (1992). Regionalism versus multilateralism. The World Economy, 15(5), 535–556.
CAREC. (2012). Annual report. Corridor performance measurement & monitoring. [pdf]. Accessed August 30, 2014, from http://cfcfa.net/images/downloads/CPMM-AR2012-ENG.pdf
CAREC. (2014). From landlocked to linked in. [pdf]. Accessed August 25, 2015, from http://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/148729/landlocked-linked.pdf
Customs Control Committee of Kazakhstan. [online] Accessed August 27, 2015, from www.e.customs.kz
Czerewacz-Filipowicz, K. (2016). The Eurasian Economic Union: Complimentary or competitive structure to the European Union. In M. H. Bilgin, H. Danis, E. Demir, & U. Can (Eds.), Proceedings of the 14th Eurasia Business and Economics Society Conference-Business Challenges in the Changing Economic Landscape (Vol. 1, pp. 473–482). Switzerland: Springer.
Grafe, C., Raiser, M., & Sakatsume, T. (2008). Beyond borders—Reconsidering regional trade in Central Asia. Journal of Comparative Economics, 36, 453–466.
IMF. (2016). Kyrgyz Republic. Selected issues (IMF Country Report No. 16/56). [online] Accessed March 1, 2015, from https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2016/cr1656.pdf
Laruelle, M., & Peyrouse, S. (2012). Regional organizations in Central Asia: Patterns of interactions, dilemmas of efficiency. In: University of Central Asia, Institute of Public Policy and Administration (Working Paper No. 10, pp. 1–56).
Libman, A. (2015). Ukrainian crisis, Economic crisis in Russia and the Eurasian Economic Union. Munich Personal RePEc Archive Paper. [online] Accessed August 31, 2015, from https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/63861/1/MPRA_paper_63861.pdf
Linn, J. (2009). First Eurasia emerging markets forum: Connecting Central Asia with the world. Global Journal of Emerging Market Economies, 1(2), 241–258.
Mogilevskii, R. (2012). Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia: Trade creation and trade diversion in Central Asia in 2010-2011. In: University of Central Asia, Institute of Public Policy and Administration (Working Paper No. 12, pp. 1–44).
Panagariya, A. (1999). The regionalism debate: An overview. The World Economy, 22(4), 477–511.
Panagariya, A. (2000). Preferential trade liberalization: The traditional theory and new developments. Journal of Economic Literature, 38(2), 287–331.
Pomfret, R. (1986). The theory of preferential trading arrangements. Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv, 122(3), 439–465.
Pomfret, R. (2009). Regional integration in Central Asia. Economic Change and Restructuring, 42(1), 47–68.
Pomfret, R. (2010). Trade and transport in Central Asia. Global Journal of Emerging Market Economies, 2(3), 237–256.
Raballand, G. (2003). Determinants of the negative impact of being landlocked on trade: An empirical investigation through the Central Asian case. Comparative Economic Studies, 45(4), 520–536.
Raballand, G., Kunth, A., & Auty, R. (2005). Central Asia’s transport cost burden and its impact on trade. Economic Systems, 29, 6–31.
Sapir, A. (2011). European integration at the crossroads: A review essay on the 50th anniversary of Bela Balassa’s theory of economic integration. Journal of Economic Literature, 49(4), 1200–1229.
UNDP. (2005). Central Asia human development report: Regional cooperation for human development and human security. [pdf] Accessed August 27, 2015, from http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/central_asia_2005_en.pdf
World Bank. (2012). Assessment of costs and benefits of the customs union for Kazakhstan (Report No. 65977-KZ). [pdf] Accessed April 25, 2015, from https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/2722/659770ESW0P1230on0Final0jan0302012.pdf?sequence=1
World Bank. (2015). Kazakhstan: Low oil prices; An opportunity to reform. Kazakhstan Economic Update. Spring 2015 [pdf] Accessed August 27, 2015, from http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2015/05/04/090224b082e34ac4/1_0/Rendered/PDF/Kazakhstan000L0pportunity0to0reform.pdf
WTO. (2010). World tariff profiles. [pdf] Accessed July 10, 2015, from https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/booksp_e/tariff_profiles10_e.pdf
WTO. (2013). The Kyrgyz Republic. Trade Policy Review. [pdf]. Accessed December 5, 2015, from https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/tpr_e/s288_e.pdf
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful for valuable comments from Richard Pomfret on earlier drafts of this paper.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Mukhamediyev, B., Khitakhunov, A. (2017). Central Asian Integration and Its Impact on Regional Trade and Economy. In: Bilgin, M., Danis, H., Demir, E., Can, U. (eds) Country Experiences in Economic Development, Management and Entrepreneurship. Eurasian Studies in Business and Economics, vol 5. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46319-3_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46319-3_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-46318-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-46319-3
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)