Multilateral Cooperation Center for Development Finance (MCDF) CEO Zhongjing Wang, together with his Senior Advisor, Mr. Ayumi Konishi, participated in the inaugural Tianshan Forum for Central Asia Economic Cooperation hosted in Urumqi, China on 2-3 December.
Commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Institute’s physical base in Urumqi and held under the theme of “unlocking connectivity and investment in Central Asia,” the forum provided a platform for the MCDF delegation to discuss how MCDF is contributing to these priorities through partnerships and deepen engagement with the CAREC Institute and participating senior government officials and representatives of International Financial Institutions (IFIs), the private sector, and other stakeholders.
CAREC Institute Director Charymuhammets Shallyyev’s welcome remarks emphasized the forum’s role in strengthening regional cooperation. It set the stage for opening remarks by China Finance Minister Lan Fo’an, Secretary of the CPC Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Regional Committee Chen Xiaojiang, Pakistan Federal Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Mongolia Secretary of State of the Ministry of Finance Ganbat Jigjid, and Asian Development Bank Vice President Yang Yingming, followed by keynote speeches from CEO Wang and others.
“There are substantial opportunities in CAREC countries to strengthen regional integration and cooperation in the renewable energy, transport and logistics, digital infrastructure, and cross-border water management sectors,” CEO Wang noted. He went on to explain MCDF’s active role in promoting sustainable, high-quality connectivity infrastructure investment in the region and beyond by providing project preparation and capacity building grants and conducting information-sharing activities that promote the application of IFI standards and good practices.
This includes the CAREC Institute and MCDF’s first joint residential training, on debt sustainability in Central and West Asia, held at the CAREC Institute in Urumqi last year.
CEO Wang also introduced the flagship MCDF Connectivity Infrastructure Report Series which launched this year with two volumes, including one highlighting IFI-financed cross-border infrastructure in Central and West Asia critical to trade and investment in the CAREC region. The report underscores the importance of building capacity and collaboration to strengthen mutual trust, address fiscal and financing constraints, and realize simple, transparent, digital, and harmonized customs clearance processes needed to shorten transit times and reduce costs.
“These findings reinforce our belief that the Tianshan Forum for Central Asia Economic Cooperation is both timely and essential,” CEO Wang said. “MCDF is committed to working closely with development partners to accelerate connectivity and infrastructure investments which will benefit Central Asia and enhance linkages between Asia, Europe, and beyond.”
A subforum on investing in Central Asia, co-organized by the CAREC Institute and the Export-Import Bank of China, consisted of two roundtable discussions focused on improving the business environment and promoting smart, sustainable investment. In the business environment roundtable, Mr. Konishi discussed findings from MCDF’s Central and West Asia connectivity infrastructure report that spotlight how regulatory reforms in the energy sector that address different approaches to energy subsidies among countries can help promote private sector investment. He also discussed the importance of pragmatism, citing the example of the CAREC Institute's establishment 10 years ago, which did not wait for the effectiveness of the official inter-governmental agreement.
On 3 December, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and MCDF co-organized a breakfast meeting to discuss the ongoing AIIB-IsDB joint study on cross-border connectivity in Central Asia, with participation from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan as well as the Asian Development Bank, CAREC Institute, Eurasian Development Bank, International Monetary Fund, and World Bank. Mr. Konishi delivered welcome remarks on MCDF’s behalf.
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David Hendrickson
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david.hendrickson@themcdf.org
