https://www.iess.ir/en/issues/economic Sat, 04 May 2024 05:14:10 GMT /skins/default/en/normal/ch01_newsfeed_logo.gif https://www.iess.ir/ 100 70 en Copyright (c) Institute for East Strategic Studies, all rights reserved. Sat, 04 May 2024 05:14:10 GMT Economic 60 https://www.iess.ir/en/report/3598/ ]]> Central Asia Wed, 01 Nov 2023 06:50:02 GMT https://www.iess.ir/en/report/3598/ https://www.iess.ir/en/analysis/2536/ In the last months of Donald Trump’s administration, it seems that all of his efforts to stabilize Afghanistan have failed. Meanwhile, Turkmenistan's relations with Russia has improved and a kind of balance has been created in its gas market, with addition of Gazprom to the list of gas buyers of Ashgabat. On the other hand, TAPI project has apparently led to a deadlock. In this situation, the traditional actors such as Iran will have the opportunity to return to Ashgabat’s gas game. ]]> Central Asia Sat, 16 Jan 2021 05:33:35 GMT https://www.iess.ir/en/analysis/2536/ https://www.iess.ir/en/analysis/2506/ In the heat of war and crisis in Afghanistan, a railway between Iran and Afghanistan was inaugurated for the first time by the presidents of the two countries. This railway connects Iran’s Khaf to Afghanistan’s Herat. Besides the fact that the extension of this railway would lead to a dramatic change in the economic relations of the two countries, it also depicts a great future for the region. This article will try to provide a futuristic analysis about this railway and examine its current and future efficiency. ]]> Afghanistan Thu, 31 Dec 2020 05:15:32 GMT https://www.iess.ir/en/analysis/2506/ https://www.iess.ir/en/note/2486/ The Taliban has reportedly been able to increase its financial income through drug trafficking, illegal mining and export in the recent years. The group's revenue in the fiscal year 1398 (which ended in March 2020) is estimated at $1.6 billion. This is clearly stated in a recent report by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) about the Taliban's financial independence. Given the role of financing in the group's macro-policies, the Taliban's financial independence will have significant consequences in the present as well as post-peace period. This essay hypothesizes that the Taliban's financial independence is the product of diversity in the group's revenue sources. This financial independence, in addition to affecting its relations with other terrorist networks, will play an important role in acquitting the group's financial supporters and undermining the Taliban's commitments signed in the peace agreement. ]]> Afghanistan Sat, 26 Dec 2020 06:56:06 GMT https://www.iess.ir/en/note/2486/ https://www.iess.ir/en/analysis/2466/ The development of the international railway network from the Iranian city of Khaf to Afghanistan’s Herat and China’s Kashgar through Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan would facilitate transportation and cultural ties between these countries, as well as with the European and western countries. Following the implementation of this plan, the Silk Road will be revived and a new eastern civilization will emerge. The construction of the Herat-Khaf railway to Kashgar will lead to more welfare for the people, development of the infrastructure, progress of the regional countries, and more investments interactions between the eastern and western countries. Meanwhile, the strategic threat for the Herat-Kashgar route is the infiltration of the Central Asian-style railway from the north by the Russians and the Indian-style railway from the south to Afghanistan, which will deprive the country of the railway with European and Chinese standards. ]]> Afghanistan Sun, 06 Dec 2020 07:29:35 GMT https://www.iess.ir/en/analysis/2466/ https://www.iess.ir/en/note/2377/ "Extraterritorial cultivation" or simply "agriculture in other countries" is one of the remarkable approaches in agriculture, which has been embraced by a lot of countries around the world with the aim of providing food security through extraterritorial resources (soil, water, etc). In Iran, due to the situation of water resources, soil erosion and increasing need for food resources, the cabinet approved the regulations of extraterritorial cultivation in a meeting on April 01, 2016, at the suggestion of the Ministry of Agriculture, citing Article 138 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran. To this purpose, eight countries of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Russia, Indonesia, Ghana, Tanzania and Brazil were selected as countries that were more compatible with the Iranian society. Meanwhile, Kazakhstan attracted the attention of many Iranian private companies. Kazakhstan’s high capacity in agricultural, its pivotal role in the Eurasian Economic Union (after Russia) - the union that the preferential trade agreement between Iran and it was implemented on October 27, 2019- , its geographical proximity to Iran, its close political relations with Tehran, and the role of Iran’s Ministry of Agriculture as the head of the joint economic commission of the two countries were among the factors that made the country appealing. As a result, tens of thousands of hectares in this country are under cultivation by the Iranian companies. In the recent years, Iranian officials and experts from different provinces, especially Khorasan Razavi, Golestan and Mazandaran, have made several visits to Kazakhstan, including the provinces of Kyzylorda and Mangystau, which have led to a number of agreements regarding the extraterritorial cultivation. Given the experience Iran has obtained in the recent years in terms of extraterritorial cultivation in Kazakhstan and reduction of tensions between upstream countries (Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan) and downstream countries (Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) in relation to water resources and environment, there is a great possibility for our country to repeat such projects in other countries like Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, something that needs comprehensive and purposeful planning by the Iranian entities, especially the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Agriculture. ]]> Central Asia Thu, 24 Sep 2020 06:29:19 GMT https://www.iess.ir/en/note/2377/