The new Silk Road region is emerging from decades of centrally planned economies that were closed to foreign investment, and the current business environment does not meet international best practices in many respects.

Despite an overall opening of the economies to international investment, the business/investment legal and regulatory frameworks of the Silk Road countries are still evolving, public institutions are still adjusting to their new roles of providing services and good governance, and certain types of human resource skills such as modern management can be in short supply.

Nonetheless, the Silk Road region may be one of the world’s most potentially lucrative untapped investment locations. It has an abundance of natural resources such as petroleum, natural gas, hydropower and minerals. It also excels at producing agricultural goods such as cotton, fruits and vegetables, meat and animal hides, and seed oils. The famed cities and attractions along the Silk Road make for an intriguing tourism destination. In addition, the Silk Road countries have an educated workforce.

This Investment Guide to the Silk Road is intended to give readers comprehensive introductory information about the investment climate and opportunities in the Silk Road region, but its primary goal is to encourage potential investors to explore in more detail their own ideas for possible regional investment projects.

Why invest in the Silk Road?

Central Asia and Western China’s geographic isolation has been considered a major obstacle in their effort to develop new markets and attract foreign investment. However, this seemingly disadvantaged geographic situation can potentially be turned into a favourable one if the Silk Road countries work together to lower the barriers and costs of moving goods and people across the region through formal cooperation programmes. Once progress is made in intraregional movements of resources, goods, and people across the Silk Road, the region can maximize its central position to exploit trade and investment opportunities with South Asia, East Asia, West Asia and Europe.

The Silk Road is one of Asia’s most dynamic economic growth areas. With abundant natural resources such as oil and natural gas, progress in the transition from command to market-based economies, and growing intraregional and interregional linkages, the Silk Road appears headed towards restoring its former prosperity. Annual GDP growth rates in the four Central Asian countries and the four Chinese provinces have often been in the double-digit range during the past few years - benefiting from China’s rapid economic growth of the past decades.

Download Investment Guide to the Silk Road

PDF format, 1MB, 78Pages.

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development

PREFACE
The Investment Guide to the Silk Road is an integral part of UNCTAD’s work in the Silk Road region, which comprises the States of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and the Western Chinese provinces. The first phase of the project was part of the UNDPUNWTO-UNCTAD Silk Road Initiative.

The publication was jointly prepared with UNDP China in 2006 and was updated by UNCTAD in 2009, and includes an abstract from an UNCTAD report on an investment promotion strategy for the tourism sector of China’s Silk Road Provinces and Autonomous Regions. The publication benefited from a workshop with Central Asian delegations organized by the UNDP offices in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, under the leadership of UNDP China and UNCTAD, as well as inputs received during fact-finding missions and the first Silk Road Investment Forum organized by UNDP, UNCTAD and the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in Xian, China, from 6 to 9 June 2006.

The publication was prepared under the direction of James Zhan and Khalil Hamdani. It has been written by Mike Pfister, Peter Brimble and Bradley Gordon. Inputs were also provided by Paul Wessendorp, Wojciech Hubner, Christiane Stepanek-Allen, Lorraine Ruffing, Günter Fischer, Kairat Uulu, Anvar Nigmatov, Joel Baumgartner, Samuel Passow, Natalia Maximchuk, Michael Geiger and Bakhodir Sharipov. It was desktop published by Teresita Ventura.

The project was financed by UNDP China (first phase) and the Government of Switzerland (second phase).
It is hoped that the information presented in this publication will help raise awareness about the Silk Road as an investment destination, hence contribute to increased investment flows in the region.

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