Expert: Fall in oil price influenced not only Kazakhstan
ASTANA. KAZINFORM - Fall in oil price has influenced not only Kazakhstan but neighboring Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, too, Paul Stronski, a senior associate in Carnegie's Russia and Eurasia Program said in an interview to Kazinform on the sidelines of the second session of the Astana Club.
"We've discussed the main problems of international relations and their influence on the Central Asian region, particularly Kazakhstan. We have also discussed the future problems which include economic challenges and terrorism and how different countries are going to address them. I have learnt more about the local economic problems and their impact on ordinary people. It was very interesting to me", Paul Stronski said.
The foreign expert also noted the importance of such dialogue platforms like the Astana Club. "It is not frequent that experts from America, Europe, China, Central Asia discuss topical issues of the global agenda from different angles of view. It was very useful for me to hear their opinions. There were also experts from India and Iran here, and I, as an American, was very much interested to listen to the analysis of the Iranian experts. One of the main concerns of experts today is low oil price because it influences both economic and political stability in the region. It is also important both for Kazakhstan and its neighbors Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan which do not have oil but big economic problems. Two years ago a lot of manpower migrated to other countries for work. Now they are not so many. Perhaps these countries have more problems than here", Paul Stronski added.