The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the
governments of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and
Uzbekistan will launch a Silk Road Regional Program (SRRP) to
revive traditional economic cooperation in trade, investment and
tourism, said Khalid Malik, UN resident coordinator and UNDP
resident representative in China.
"Regional cooperation is a key to help meet the Millennium
Development Goals of reducing poverty and promoting growth and
equality," said Malik at a press conference on Thursday after the
close of the SRRP launch meeting in Beijing.
The project will encourage public-private partnerships in
selected fields such as infrastructure, tourism and hotel
development through a Silk Road Investment Forum, an annual or
biannual event to attract international and Chinese investment.
Through the project, the UNDP and World Trade Organization will
identify eight to 10 cities along the route to award the title
of UN Silk Road City to encourage commitment to and long-term
planning for the protection of cultural assets.
With a starting fund of US$1 million, the two-year project
represents a strategic follow-up phase to an earlier UNDP program,
Silk Road Area Development, Phase I.
The SRRP will serve as a link to help the participating
countries strengthen connections and cooperation, Malik said.
For example, to encourage utilization of rich tourism resources
throughout the area, innovative projects such as the Silk Road
multiple-entry visa will be introduced. Initial talks with the
governments of the participating countries and the Shanghai
Cooperation Organization (SCO)
were held during the meeting, he noted.
Through trade and investment ties, the program will help the
Central Asian countries draw economic growth lessons from China,
according to Fikret Akcura, UN resident coordinator and UNDP
resident representative in Uzbekistan. "We can achieve new miracles
by opening tourism and realizing the free movement of visitors,
goods and services," he stated.
China, with its dynamic economy, is keen to revive the historic
Silk Road as well to improve trade and transport links with the
Central Asian countries, which possess abundant natural resources,
said Zhao Yongli, division director of the China International
Center for Economic and Technological Exchanges under the Ministry of Commerce.
Trade turnover between China and Central Asia increased to US$4
billion in 2003, eight times the 1992 figure, Zhao said.
(China Daily February 18, 2005)
