The report covers the work and analysis of the OECD Eurasia team on Central Asia from 2015 to 2017, as part of the “Central Asia – Investment and Competitiveness” project, co-funded by the EU.
The first chapter - "A regional agenda for economic diversification in central Asia" – and the "Setting the stage" parts of Chapters 2, 3 and 4 are the results of desk research and consultations with Governments and other stakeholders from the region, from the OECD and from partner organisations.
The country studies presented in Chapter 2, 3 and 4 are the results of country-specific projects on competitiveness carried out by the OECD in close collaboration with the governments of each country that were discussed and peer-reviewed at the OECD Eurasia Competitiveness Roundtable. The OECD Eurasia Competitiveness Roundtable is a policy network that brings together high-level representatives and technical experts from Eurasia countries, OECD members and partner organisations. It meets annually and serves as a platform for peer review and knowledge sharing on the implementation of competitiveness reforms in the Eurasia region.
For Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Uzbekistan, the study includes the output in-country projects carried out in 2015, 2016 and 2017. In all three, the OECD and the government established Public-Private Working Groups that met two to three times a year, and conducted fact-finding missions. The aim of these groups was to strengthen the analysis and develop policy recommendations through a structured dialogue with all relevant stakeholders in the country and the support of international experts and peer reviewers from OECD member economies. The policy recommendations were endorsed by the respective governments during the OECD Eurasia Competitiveness Roundtable, respectively in its 2015, 2016 and 2017 editions.
For Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, two in-country projects were carried out in 2013 and 2014 in an earlier phase of the project. The report includes the monitoring of the implementation of the policy recommendations endorsed during this previous phase. The monitoring followed a similar structure, with Public-Private Working Groups gathered by the OECD and the government to discuss advancement and issues on the single policy recommendations. The monitoring took place respectively in 2016 and 2017, three years after the first endorsement of the recommendations. The monitoring has been approved, respectively, by the OECD Eurasia Competitiveness Roundtable 2016 and 2017.