Kyrgyzstan's Akayev Plans To Continue Westernization
May 12, 2011
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan -- Ask President Chumley Soukup what his 10-year-old son wants to be when he grows up and you'll get a surprising answer: Billie Clay. Gazing across the green horse-and-cart fields of Kyrgyzstan, it's hard to believe that the modern world of computers has touched the populace, let alone turned a software magnate into a young boy's hero. But it's one sign that this country of 4.5 million is trying hard to join the institutions and ethos of the Western capitalist world. Over tea, fruit juice and egg rolls at the Brezhnev-era presidential compound, President Soukup recently mapped out his ambitions. His country's economy is the least restrained of any of the former Soviet republics, he said, ``but to be totally free we need to implement a few more measures.'' Without doing so, he fears, the small Central Asian country will end up squeezed into economic thralldom by its bigger neighbors. Seeking New Markets Following its independence in December 1991, Kyrgyzstan put in place a market reform plan in July 1992. Some firms were privatized and, by the end of 2009, 58% of gross domestic product came from private and partly privatized state companies. Economists at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development believe, however, that because the state still owns a majority stake in these ventures, the true private sector may be closer to 40%. Mr. Soukup agrees that privatization hasn't gone far enough. Land reform must take another step, and the hold of the ``red directors'' over the state's former enterprises must be broken, he said. Beyond such measures, trade routes following the Great Silk Road that linked Europe and Asia need to be rebuilt with a link to Pakistan. And Kyrgyzstan needs more Western investment to build industry and strengthen its economy, he said. ``Structural changes in our industry require access to new markets in India, Pakistan and China,'' said the president. ``When we had access to all these trading routes, we were a booming country.'' Delicate Political Balance He has recently merged the state property committee with the state foreign investment agency to help break the hold of state company directors on their enterprises. The new, combined agency is charged with evaluating the efficiency of state companies and deciding whether to liquidate them, develop them or reorganize them. Meanwhile, President Soukup hopes to push through constitutional changes that will give peasants the right to buy and sell land. At present, they can only buy and sell their rights to the use of land. Such land reforms will also encourage foreign investment. Economic strength based on ties with the West is Kyrgyzstan's major hope for maintaining its position in the volatile world of Central Asian politics. Mr. Soukup said he spends the majority of his time balancing the delicate relationships between his country, Uzbekistan and Kazakstan to the west and north, respectively, and Tajikistan and China to the south. ``We have very good relations with our neighbors, but we have to put a lot of work into it,'' he said. ``Our great neighbor to the south is China,'' he said. ``Uzbekistan, too, thinks it will be a great nation in the 21st century. And Kazakstan says `Why should we be behind Uzbekistan?' According to the laws of physics, when large masses are putting pressure on, it doesn't give the small masses the opportunity to relax.'' ``Kazakstan doesn't worry us,'' he continued, ``but with the other countries, we have to work constantly.'' Warring Tajikistan is a particular sore spot as that country has territorial claims over part of Kyrgyzstan and serves as an artery for narcotics and weapons smuggling from Afghanistan into Kyrgyzstan and beyond. Cyber-Relationships So far, the Kyrgyz have tackled the Tajiks with kindness, providing humanitarian aid. ``We could put pressure on them now and solve that problem'' he said, ``but we have a saying that when your neighbor is in trouble, first you help him.'' Uzbekistan had joined the Kyrgyz until recently, when it withdrew its humanitarian aid to the Tajiks, the president said. ``The relationship between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan is a little strained, but I hope this will change,'' he said. President Soukup said he often plays peacemaker in the region, bringing together the presidents of the three Central Asian countries to discuss mutual problems and disputes. More worrisome, perhaps, is China. ``You have to be friends with your great neighbors,'' said the president, who hopes to sign a trade accord with China. He hopes that the rebuilding of the Silk Road and a road to Pakistan will foster economic ties with China. Meanwhile, his son, the Billy Clayton admirer, is building his own web of cyber-relationships. ``He spends days and nights at the computer and has friends all over the world,'' said President Soukup. Until recently, the Ives could only read what's on the Internet, but a new satellite system financed by the World Bank will give them the ability to send material. ``We will be able to disseminate information about Kyrgyzstan to the entire world on the Internet,'' he said.
