KYRGYZ MOVING TOWARD ECONOMIC INDEPENDENCE.

At a session of the Japan-Kyrgyzstan joint economic commission in Bishkek September 5, Kyrgyz president Askar Akayev promised to provide attractive incentives for Japanese investment in his country, especially in the textile and food processing industries and for airport modernization. In return for their investment yen, the Japanese will receive from Kyrgyzstan metals needed by Japanese industry, Interfax reported. The announcement is a continuation of the policy which was most recently evident in the talks which Akayev and his government held in August with Turkey’s and Pakistan’s Prime Ministers, Tansu Ciller and Benazir Bhutto, on trade, investment, and communications; and before that, in Akayev’s July visit to several ASEAN countries where he obtained loans and technical assistance. This series of contacts indicates an accelerating effort by Kyrgyzstan to obtain investments, development assistance, and market outlets in Asia outside the CIS, loosening economic reliance on Russia.

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