The development of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) requires the creation of digital infrastructure as well as transport and logistics infrastructure. With this in mind, China proposed the so-called “Digital Silk Road” (DSR) initiative in 2015. China hopes to reconfigure the global digital order and is enlisting Central Asia as a partner. It can be argued that the development of projects linked to the DSR is allowing Central Asian countries to transform their economies. All countries in the region have already drawn up basic strategies for developing a digital economy, which contain a large Chinese component in both investment and technology. Furthermore, the potential benefits for the region of collaborating with the People’s Republic of China are generally the development of logistics capacities and the formation of new economic and industrial clusters.
Author: Leyla Muzaparova