Stakeholders recently stated on EURACTIV that the high-level meeting to be held next week in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, to discuss connectivity issues is a stability dividend and a timely opportunity to convince countries that the international community will not be after the United States withdraws from Afghanistan. Give up the area event.
Tashkent will host the International Conference on “Central and South Asia: Regional Connectivity, Challenges and Opportunities” from July 15th to 16th. The foreign ministers of Central and South Asian countries will attend, including the Prime Minister of Pakistan, the Foreign Minister of India and the President of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani, as well as the Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov and lower-level representatives of the United States. According to information obtained by EURACTIV, Josep Borrell, the head of EU foreign affairs, will lead a strong delegation.
Since the United States and its NATO allies withdrew after more than 20 years of commitments, the security situation in Afghanistan has been deteriorating. The Afghan government and Taliban negotiators have been meeting in Doha, the capital of Qatar, to discuss the post-NATO model, but the results look uncertain.
Philip van Amersfoort, deputy director of the Central Asian Department of Foreign Affairs of the European Union, said that in addition to advancing regional cooperation, the meeting is also “an opportunity to reiterate the international community’s support for the credible peace process in Afghanistan at this specific point in time.” distribution.
At a “critical moment,” this meeting is very important for Afghanistan. Former EU Enlargement Commissioner and now adviser to Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoev, Stefan Fuller agreed.
“When we left Afghanistan militarily [it is important] Assure Afghanistan and neighboring countries that they will not tackle the challenges alone, and I believe these challenges are coming,” he added.
There are signs that challenges have emerged. Due to the advancement of Taliban militants, some Afghan security personnel are fleeing the country, leading Tajikistan to order the mobilization of 20,000 military reserve personnel to strengthen border security last week.
At the same time, the region has been in trouble due to scarce water resources and an undefined border conflict between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan last April, a local problem since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The escalation of violence attracted the attention of Brussels, and Brussels subsequently offered to provide assistance.
Geopolitics and stability dividend
In addition, this incident is important because “it will not pay attention to China, nor will it pay attention to China’s’One Belt One Road’ initiative, because now is not the time to impose any rules on the appearance of interconnection, but Central Asia decides. Go to South Asia to determine the scope of ambition here,” Füle said.
Van Amersfoort stated that the European Union would make its proposal and “put forward an attractive sale proposal,” but did not mention China’s geopolitical project, which warns of Beijing’s growing global influence in Western countries.
The EU is already Central Asia’s largest trading partner, ahead of Russia and China, and accounts for 40% of all foreign direct investment.
However, finding suitable financing for roads and railways from the private sector is still not an easy task. The Asian Development Bank estimates that by 2030, the region will need 450 billion euros of infrastructure investment, while taking into account the 5% investment gap of the region’s GDP, 60% of which must come from private investors.
Romana Vlahutin, European ambassador for external action service connectivity, said that from the perspective of the European Union, the regional and security aspects of cooperation are of utmost importance. “If you want to attract large-scale private investment, it cannot happen unless their operating space is predictable.”
According to Vlahutin, “Managed interdependence does bring huge stability dividends.”
Stefania Benaglia, an associate researcher at the CEPS think tank in Brussels, said that connectivity has a strong foreign policy element and can be a “game changer.”
“The European Union has always been called its [connectivity’s] The internal potential is huge, but as a new tool of foreign policy, it is recently learning how to use and use it,” she said.
Nevertheless, the European Group has a long way to go in figuring out how to use this tool.
The researcher said that the EU could invest in connectivity on a project-by-project basis, put the private sector in a dominant position, or help create an innovative financial system to drive growth and generate returns.
Benaglia pointed out that the former “will not attract most industries, while the latter is very interested in sustainable long-term participation.”
On the contrary, the EU should participate systematically, because despite the risks, “it may make the EU take a different track as a global participant, because we must not forget that the EU is now learning how to become a global participant”, research argumentation.
In Benaglia’s view, communicating one’s goals in the region may be the biggest challenge facing the EU.
“Because the EU speaks its own language honestly, and mostly to itself,” she said, adding, “It remains a challenge to communicate its priorities, intentions and goals to its own citizens and other citizens of partner countries. “
Follow Uzbekistan
The host of the conference can be a good starting point for the European Union’s ambitions.
After the death of Islam Karimov, the first leader of independent Uzbekistan in 2016, his successor Shavkatmirziyoev opened the country to the world, which has become a game changer in the region.
Philip van Amersfoort said: “We have seen some new momentum in the cooperation in Central Asia, especially driven by Uzbekistan’s reform and opening up, people are interested in strengthening regional connectivity and development cooperation. “
The EU accepted Uzbekistan as the ninth beneficiary of the Special Incentive Trade Arrangement for Sustainable Development and Good Governance (GSP+) in April, which means the complete elimination of two-thirds of tariffs on all commodities.
Tashkent and Brussels are also currently negotiating a new bilateral trade agreement, the Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (EPCA).
(Editing by Georgi Getoff)
