Russia - Central Asia-Caucasus Institute and Silk Road Studies ...

500
The New Silk Roads
Table H: Altai-Kazakhstan trade turnover, 2000-2005:
Turnover,
thousands
USD
Export,
Thousands
USD
Import,
Thousands
USD
share % to
previous time
frame
2000 168109,4 129152,2 38957,2 193,4
2001 190146,3 145464,7 44681,6 113,1
2002 107154,7 80942,2 26212,5 56,3
2003 173837,1 110937,3 62212,5 162,2
2004 303442,1 189009,4 116890,6 176
2005 (Jan-
Sep)
237763,3 171600 66163,3 104,6
Impediments to inter-regional cooperation
Altai’s cross-border trade is impeded by the fact that automobile and
railway border check-points are still poorly organized and not properly
equipped. Many are even at a distance from the actual borders, resulting
in delays at border crossings and reduced trade. Since January, 2001, the
State Customs Committee of the Russian Federation heavily
bureaucratized the rules on goods traffic from East and South-East Asia.
In Altai province only one check-point was permitted for highways, and
transport was re-directed to Moscow. As a result, Altai shuttle-traders
were forced to buy goods in remote Eastern Siberia or in Moscow, which
naturally reduced trade and increased smuggling.
The following steps are now essential if Altai is again to play a role in
regional trade: establish industrial ties between Altai and Kazakhstan
enterprises and organize industrial complexes as necessary to build on
complementarities; seek investments from abroad for the Altai economy;
develop border tourism; and organize trade links between China and
Russia via the Altai sector of the Russia-Kazakhstan border.
Altai also has significant trade with Belarus, other CIS countries, and
Asia. Top level visits of Altai and Belarussian delegations have resulted
in many recent agreements. In the same spirit, a 2005 Uzbek delegation to