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The purpose of this paper is to look to new opportunities that may be available to the nations comprising Central Asia. The region has recovered only slowly since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Based on secondary data from reports by the UN, ADB and other NGOs, academic papers and the press, a quasi‐mathematical equation is used to illustrate how infrastructure development is dependant on many factors. From this analysis the importance of the transportation sector for future growth is discerned. Historical detractors are noted and drivers for the future are discussed.

The paper finds that Central Asia's future growth and prosperity would be based on a robust redevelopment of all its infrastructures but primarily on the implementation of Maglev high speed rail systems to move freight quickly internally and for Eurasian transit.

Well‐integrated transport infrastructures enhance local wellbeing. The interconnectedness and interdependence of globalised economies depend on transport, but other aspects of the total infrastructure local and regional must be integrated to achieve growth. In the case of Central Asia it is seen that an accord between the Presidents is needed to ensure regional cooperation, which will lead to Eurasian cooperation.

The region has been forgotten, to some extent, by the global community, yet it has great potential to become again an important transportation hub between Europe and Asia. The value of the paper is in noting the push of many NGOs towards regional integration, which may be best approached, we suggest, from an initial investment in its transportation infrastructure.

The Central Asian republics are among the countries which currently experience the world’s fastest growing HIV/AIDS epidemic. At the same time, they are threatened by the re‐emergence of tuberculosis (TB), with the highest rates of new TB cases among the Former Soviet Republics. One of the groups that is at highest risk from TB and HIV/AIDS and that is, at the same time, the major regional drivers of the epidemics is the prison population. Up to an estimated third of HIV/AIDS infected persons in Central Asia are within the penitentiary system. At the same time, prisons are known to be the ‘epidemiological pump’ for TB in the region, fuelled by overcrowding, poor ventilation and inadequate nutrition. Both AIDS and TB incidence and death rates among prisoners are much higher than in the civilian population, with an alarming rising trend. Prison health is a key issue of public interest, especially in the context of an epidemiological crisis as in Central Asia. This paper looks at the spread of HIV/AIDS and TB in the region and analyses the role prisons play as one of the main multipliers.

Globalisation has remained a subjective term as the magnitude unfolded. Every new decade witnesses new opportunities for global integration of the economies. One among such initiatives, it is argued, is the One Belt One Road initiative of the People’s Republic of China. It is assumed to be beneficial for the world and at least for the region, if not to say more. The world has witnessed efforts and trends of protectionism as well, but China comes up with new vigour. One Belt One Road has entered into consistent talks and deliberations at the world level. It is therefore imperative to identify the emerging linkages between the participant countries in One Belt One Road. This study aims to take up the task of enquiring about the effect of One Belt One Road on the gravity between China and the nations of Eurasia. This study looks for the realisation of the expected economic ties and internationalisation emerging from One Belt One Road and the evidence for the same. This will be identified in the present study. The paper also attempts to theorise a model for One Belt One Road.

This study takes up the task of enquiring about the effect of One Belt One Road on the gravity between China and the nations of Eurasia. The hypothesised economic ties and internationalisation will be a reality or not. And what are the evidences for the same. This will be identified in the proposed study. An attempt to theorise the model for One Belt One Road is also taken.

It is perceived that the mega project would fill the wedge between China and Eurasia and convergence will follow with the start of the One Belt One Road.

The emergence of China in the global world order as the initiator of mega deals and projects and its dominion in every realm of economic activity is a topic of scrutiny for the entire world. In this context, the One Belt One Road initiative offers huge potential for exploration. As the project is in its early stages of planning and execution, its prospects of tying entire Europe and Russia with China through two of the revived ancient routes are essential to the entire world.

HIV/AIDS is a serious problem for prison populations across Europe and Central Asia. In most countries, rates of HIV infection are many times higher among prisoners than among the population outside prisons. This situation is often exacerbated by high rates of hepatitis C and/or (multi‐drug resistant) tuberculosis in many countries. In most cases, high rates of HIV infection are linked to the sharing of injecting equipment both inside and outside prison walls and to unprotected sexual encounters in prison. In a majority of countries, adequate preventive measures have not been introduced in prisons, although they have been successfully introduced in other prison systems and shown to be effective. As a result, people in prison are placed at increased risk of HIV infection, and prisoners living with HIV/AIDS are placed at increased risk of health decline, of co‐infection with hepatitis C and/or tuberculosis, and of early death.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the performance of the emerging markets of Central Asia, and to bridge quantitative development indicators with a qualitative measurement of market and broader socioeconomic conditions. While findings may warrant deeper examination of inter‐ and intra‐country developments, and, inter alia, comparison to other emerging markets, the paper aims to highlight the importance of aligning macro‐level reforms with due development of industry‐level aims to the conditions.

This paper relies on secondary research and data from international financial institutions (IFIs), as well as the author's experience in working with private sector development issues in emerging and developing economies. The Central Asian context derives from a comparison of definitions set out by relevant IFIs. Quantitative economic and outlook data set the stage for further examination of market conditions. The paper also touches upon the total factor productivity economic development indicator that was used as the basis for a World Bank report on economic and productivity growth in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.

While this paper examines reforms and development on a regional level, increasingly favorable market conditions in Central Asia may well be an indirect response to a globalizing world economy. The understanding and systematic measurement of both sectoral and macro‐level drivers will lead to a more holistic understanding of economic development in emerging markets.

This paper provides an understanding of existing market conditions in Central Asia, and builds on the importance of market performance measurement in assessing broader economic development.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between gross domestic product (GDP) growth and renewable and non-renewable energy consumption in 82 developing countries categorized by region.

To achieve the goal of this study, the panel model was used taking the period 1990-2009.

The Kao co-integration test results showed that both renewable and non-renewable energy consumption had a long-running relationship with all the economic sectors in all regions. Moreover, the FMOLS revealed that the renewable and non-renewable energy consumption had a long-run positive relationship with the economic sectors. However, the results also revealed that non-renewable energy consumption has a more significant effect on the economic sectors than the renewable energy consumption. In addition, the Granger causality showed the same results, that the causal relationship between the economic sectors and non-renewable energy consumption is more significant than the causal relationship between the economic sectors and renewable energy.

The reason behind these results is that these regions still depend on fossil fuels to promote their economic growth. Fossil fuels basically contribute more than 80 per cent of their total energy consumption. Thus, the study recommends the developing countries to increase their investment on renewable energy projects to increase the share of the renewable energy of total energy consumption.

This study is considered different from all the previous studies because it will investigate the disaggregate relationship between GDP and energy consumption (renewable and non-renewable) in East Asia and Pacific, Europe and Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Middle East and North Africa, South Asia and the Sub-Saharan African developing countries.

The purpose of this paper is to estimate the determinants of rural and national poverty, of income distribution, and of agricultural growth in developing countries.

Data for all variables are from the 2008 World Development Report. The author applies the least‐squares estimation technique in a multivariate linear regression.

It is found, from different size samples, that: the percentage of the rural population living below the national rural poverty line in a developing country is dependent upon the logarithm of per capita purchasing power parity gross national income and the region in which it is located; it linearly depends on its per capita agriculture value added and its geographic location; agriculture value added growth linearly depends on the share of women in the agricultural labor force, whether the developing country is agriculture‐based, and whether it is located in Europe or Central Asia; and agricultural productivity linearly depends on the amount of arable and permanent cropland per agricultural person, the share of women in the agricultural labor force, and the share of agricultural employment in total employment.

Statistical results in this paper will assist governments in developing countries assess the magnitude of agricultural policy variables in an effort to use agriculture as an engine for economic development.

This chapter analyzes and discusses the food insecurity and malnutrition situation in Europe and Central Asia (ECA), with a strong focus on the Caucasus and Central Asian countries.

Authors use descriptive statistics to examine macro-level, sectoral-level, and household-level data from national and international sources to review production, trade, and consumption of food and agricultural products in the selected countries. Overall trends in economic growth and poverty reduction, constraints and bottlenecks in agricultural productivity growth, as well as policies that shape food security in the ECA region are analyzed.

While the countries that constitute the focus of this chapter have shown significant progress in alleviating food insecurity and extreme poverty, many risk factors remain, such as inadequate micronutrient intake, sub-optimal quality diets, growing obesity rates, and high dependence on food imports in a number of the ECA countries.

Based on the assessment of the food security situation in the ECA countries, the authors discuss government actions, including those emanating from various global initiatives, being implemented to reduce food insecurity and malnutrition.

The paper aims to explain bank interest spread from 2000 to 2014.

The study used the ordinary least square panel corrected standard errors (OLS-PCSE) estimation. Generalised least squares results (unreported but available on request) are consistent with the OLS-PCSE results. This is done for 110 developing countries, 50 Europe & Central Asia countries, 33 Latin American countries, 21 Middle East and North African (MENA) countries, 46 Sub-Saharan African (SSA) counties and 8 South Asia countries. The developing countries are further grouped into small, medium and large-size banking markets.

The study finds consistent results which indicate that the bigger a bank the less margin charged. The results further show an ambiguous relationship between concentration and net interest margin. The authors find strong evidence to show that less competition leads to inefficient banking market. The study finds lower operational efficiency can lead to higher or lower margin depending on the region or market size. General growth in the economy can lead to a more efficient banking market. The results allude to the fact that inflationary shocks do pass on to deposit and loan rates at different extent and speed. Little evidence show that higher presence of foreign banks leads to higher margins.

The study recommends Central banks to encourage banks to grow/expand either through mergers or acquisitions. This could be done by increasing minimum capital requirements. When this is done, it is most likely that economies of scale among the merged banking entities will be materialised, potentially causing a sizable reduction in overhead costs that could eventually also increase the intermediation efficiency. While at this, further efficiency should be ensured through stirring up competition.

This study is the first to give new evidence of banking spread using country level data for developing countries and across different continents.