Expert: Korea-Central Asia Summit Should Launch Transition to a Cross-Border Economy
The first-ever Korea-Central Asia Summit, scheduled for September, poses a fundamental question for dialogue participants: can regional cooperation outgrow traditional diplomacy and become a unified economic ecosystem? In his analytical publication for Global Asia, Kazakhstani political scientist Aidar Kurmashev offers a pragmatic perspective on the evolution of the "Central Asia Plus" format, highlighting the gap between the success of a joint foreign policy and the fragmentation of the regional economy.
The "5+1" diplomatic format has become the new norm in recent years: since 2022, the leaders of the five countries have held a series of collective meetings with key global players—from China and the US to the Persian Gulf states and the EU. However, behind this seemingly unified diplomacy lies a paradox: the diplomatic voice of the countries in the region is already collective, yet their trade and production still function largely separately.
The analyst's key and most recent insight is that the success of high-level forums can no longer be measured mechanically by the sum total of individual bilateral contracts. The true test of Seoul's maturity will be its ability to propose projects to the region that operate under the "two-country rule." If an initiative doesn't unite production capacities, customs systems, or suppliers in at least two Central Asian states, it will remain just another bilateral agreement under a slick regional guise.
This concept is based on bare statistics: despite the rapid growth of domestic trade in the region (it has doubled in recent years), its share of the total trade turnover of Central Asia's largest economies has grown by less than one percentage point since 2017, stagnating at a modest 8.4%. Under these conditions, it is pointless for major external players to compete with China's logistical proximity or traditional ties with Russia solely through the transportation of finished goods. The solution lies in creating complex technological links within the region—in the local processing of critical minerals, agro-industry, automotive components, and microelectronics, with the participation of Korean giants.
Completing this picture, the author highlights another strategic vector: "digital seamlessness." The region's logistical remoteness cannot be overcome by road construction alone; the launch of pilot digital trade corridors with preliminary cargo data exchange, electronic document management, and joint risk management at borders is necessary.
About the resource and the author: This article was published in the South Korean international journal Global Asia, an influential English-language publication of the East Asia Foundation dedicated to issues of geopolitics, security, and economics in Asia. The author of the study is Aidar Kurmashev, PhD, Head of the Asian Studies Department at the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies (KISS) under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. His expertise focuses on the foreign policies of middle powers, regional integration mechanisms, and cross-border economic chains in Central Asia.
