Since China launched its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013, Beijing has loaned Central Asian countries over $30 billion to build infrastructure, expand extractive capacity, and support the region’s other development initiatives. Despite all this, Central Asian countries remain less connected to one another and the global economy than countries in other regions, and growing debt burdens have sparked concern about Central Asia’s future.
This month’s edition of the BRI Monitor Information Brief outlines steps that the governments of Central Asia can take to unlock the potential of the region’s private sector and attract investment from a more diverse array of actors, which would enhance the ability of countries to generate revenues and pay down their debts. Read on to discover how Central Asian countries can achieve resilient growth and transform their BRI projects from liabilities into assets.
