This note complements and extends the work carried out by the OECD Eurasia Competitiveness Programme (ECP) on assessing the impact of global shocks on the economies of Central Asia and the Eastern Partner (EaP) Countries. The work was realised by the OECD Eurasia Division and the OECD Istanbul Centre, in co-operation with the International Transport Forum (ITF).
This report was prepared under the guidance of Mr Andreas Schaal, Director of the OECD Directorate for Global Relations and Co-operation, Mr William Tompson, Head of the OECD Eurasia Division and Mr Achraf Bouali, Head of the OECD Istanbul Centre. The project was led and closely supervised by Mr Grégory Lecomte, Head of the Central Asia Unit, and coordinated by Ms Amélie Schurich Rey, Economist and Policy Analyst, OECD Eurasia Division.
The authors of this report are Ms Amélie Schurich Rey, Economist and Policy Analyst, OECD Eurasia Division, and Mr Hugo Brisebard, Junior Policy Analyst, in the OECD Eurasia Division, with significant contributions of Ms Seda Sevgi, Deputy Head, and Ms Damla Hacibrahimoglu, Policy Analyst at the OECD Istanbul Centre, Mr Dylan Van de Ven and Mr Blaise Estienne, Junior Policy Analysts in the OECD Eurasia Division. Valuable analytical support was provided by Mr Cengiz Arikan, Statistician in the OECD Istanbul Centre, and Mr Francesco Alfonso, Deputy Head of the Eastern Partnership Unit in the OECD Eurasia Division. Ms Anna Chahtahtinsky, Ms Elisa Larrakoetxea, Programme Administrators in the OECD Eurasia Division, and Mr Daniel Poloyko, Junior Policy Analyst in the OECD Eurasia Division, provided unfailing administrative and logistical support.
The project would not have been possible without the financial support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, and the continuous dialogue with representatives of ministries and state agencies, the private sector, business associations, international organisations, non-governmental organisations and other stakeholders across the countries covered in this work. The OECD would like to express its gratitude to the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport of Azerbaijan, the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development and the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia, the Ministry of Trade and Integration and the Transport Committee under the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructural Development of Kazakhstan, the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure and the Ministry of Trade of Türkiye, CAREC, the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route Association (TITRA), the International Road Transport Union (IRU), the World Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), TRACECA, Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) and Union of Road Transport Associations in the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Region (BSEC-URTA), the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the International Trade Centre (ITC), the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), and the numerous business associations in all countries covered by this project for their support and participation.
Preliminary findings were discussed on 6 November 2023 during a roundtable meeting at the OECD Istanbul Centre with key stakeholders. The report was reviewed by Marzena Kisielewska, Head of the South East Europe division of the OECD Directorate for Global Relations and Co-operation and her team, Jibran Punthakey, Policy Analyst at the OECD Trade and Agriculture Directorate, Peline Atamer, Head of Programme at the OECD Eurasia Division, and Yaroslav Kholodov and Nick Caros, Policy Analysts and Modellers at the ITF.