Via Forbes, a look at the middle corridor of the New Silk Road: Just ten years ago, a non-stop freight train from fringes of Asia into the core of Europe may have sounded like an odd twist of historical fiction or even a really dumb idea, but in today’s context – where a new “Silk […]
Read more »Via The Wall Street Journal, a report on Iran’s discovery of an estimated 50 billion barrels of crude oil, a discovery almost as big as the U.S.’s proved reserves of 61.2 billion barrels: Iran’s president Hassan Rouhani said Sunday that a new giant oil field had been discovered in the country’s south. With an estimated […]
Read more »Via The Asia Times, an article on the hurricane of yuan blowing through Central Asia, funding everything from high-rise hotels to thousands of kilometers of highways: There never used to be much to do in Khorgos, a remote and dusty outpost on the China-Kazakh border. As recently as 2011, it was a settlement of a mere […]
Read more »Via Central Asian Bureau for Analytical Reporting, commentary on Turkmenistan: In the last 2-3 years, independent media write regularly about the inflation in Turkmenistan, incessant queues, shortage of basic goods, and strengthened punitive measures against those who are disgruntled. The authorities of the country never comment these statements and still claim Turkmenistan lives in the […]
Read more »Via Forbes, a look at Kazakhstan: Famous hedge fund manager Ray Dalio of Bridgewater Associates in Connecticut likes to say that either you’re being paid for earnings or you’re being paid for yield. With earnings growth and yield shrinking in many of the advanced economies (negative in parts of Europe), investors are forced to look […]
Read more »Via Reuters, a report on Somalia’s plans for first oil licensing round in December: Somalia will announce plans in December for its first ever oil and gas licensing round, its oil minister said on Tuesday, as the frontier market looks to attract new investment after decades of civil strife. At least three mortar bombs were fired last […]
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