Monday 22 September 2008


THE SILK ROAD IS FLOURISHING ONCE AGAIN

In Focus (Credit Suisse), September 22, 2008

Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan were the destinations for a trip by a 40-strong Credit Suisse delegation in early September. The three countries could not be more different from each other, in terms of culture as well as economics. What they have in common is their determination to make the breakthrough into the globalized economy.

In about 100 B.C., the first camel trains embarked on the laborious journey westward from Chang’an (the former capital of China, now known as Xi’an) in order to carry what was probably the most sought-after product of the time all the way to the Mediterranean via Tehran and Baghdad. The Silk Road came into being. Transporting this precious material was nothing less than a masterpiece of logistics, given that the fearless traders not only had to traverse the Takla Makan desert and the 4000-meter-high passes in the Pamir Mountains, but also to ward off countless hostile attacks along the way.
The Stage is Set for Growth
Risks of a somewhat more modest nature were faced by the Credit Suisse delegation as they retraced the route of the Old Silk Road for six days at the start of September. This interactive field trip took potential investors to three countries in the heart of Central Asia: Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. "The aim of our interactive field trips is to bring potential investors to markets that are still relatively unknown, but which also offer great potential," according to Arthur Vayloyan, Head of Investment Services & Products in the Private Banking Division, who also initiated the trip to Central Asia. Hard macroeconomic data bear out what Mr. Vayloyan says: since the turn of the millennium, all three of the countries visited report outstanding growth rates of between seven and ten percent (see the table). Direct investments in these former Soviet republics, which became independent in 1991, have also shown constantly upward trends over the last three years. At the same time, substantial differences separate the Central Asian countries. Kazakhstan, for instance, with its wealth of raw materials, reports a per capita income of USD 10,733; this is almost nine times higher than the figure of USD 1,257 for Tajikistan, which is relatively poor in raw materials; with USD 2,286, Uzbekistan is also lagging well behind its large northern neighbor.

(…) [artículo aquí]

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