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Member of the General Council of the Eurasian Peoples' Assembly, famous economist, full member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, Director of the ANO "Research Institute of Economic Strategies", member of the Izborsk Club Alexander Ageev believes that Russia and Central Asia especially need each other today:
- The importance of Central Asia is colossal! It is in the light of the ongoing restructuring and the formation of new contours. I won't tell you how valuable Kazakhstan is. It's practically half of the world's uranium! It's zinc, it's copper, it's rare earth. But it's not only that - in fact, they are civilisationally very close to us. But you have to realize that in two or three generations it is possible to create such propaganda, which will wash brains very seriously. Kyrgyzstan is in the gap between China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Russia. Again, attempts are being made to reconnect it. Uzbekistan is a leader in demographics. We actively develop cooperation, in particular, in the area of nuclear power plant construction and personnel training.
A special case is Turkmenistan. Now the focus is on Afghanistan: the time is coming for a very serious reconstruction program in Afghanistan. The relationship with Iran is completely different. Big processes are underway in Iraq. On the one hand, there is a line for disintegration, for chaoticisation of the entire large macro-region. What if we come there as creators, as a party that can offer extremely important resources! Such as electricity, water, transit communications, security... This is a plus and an opportunity to build new relationships. Of course, the region itself is colossally significant. It is traditionally the epicenter of science, art, culture...
There is such a thing as international development assistance. And we are de facto providing assistance to various countries, including Central Asian countries, say, for 20 billion dollars - this is the real figure. And statistics record 1 billion. That is, we actually participate much more, but we do not count well, we do not rank well. It is necessary to study the technical support of development institutions ...
For a long time, our diplomatic services were captivated by the West, but now the entire system is being rebuilt - both foreign trade and investment. And that is why there are such large macro-projects: transport, energy, ecosystem, digital, demographic, educational. Of course, in the new conditions, we will inevitably return in new formats, respecting all sovereignties and, especially, the elites that are there, to the areal that is built by natural and geographical conditions. History itself has made it so.
Naturally, a lot of rubbish, fakes and hype will be heaped on this story, on this trend. It is not just pragmatism that is important here - Americans and Europeans have more pragmatism. What is important here is not pragmatism with a great-powerful, but with a generous content! It will determine a lot, because the human charm of the same engineers, geologists, hydrologists, railway workers determines many things. And it is clear that together we are much stronger.
SOURCE: https://asia24.media/main/aleksandr-ageev-vmeste-rossiya-i-tsentralnaya-...