Tag Archives: Central Asia

Trucks and Central Asia

I have to admit, I wasn’t always excited about Central Asia. The region’s economy is no bigger than Singapore’s, but spread over a land mass the size of Europe. It has oil, but mostly concentrated in Kazakhstan. It’s also land-locked without easy access to ports. For an economist, it isn’t a compelling story.

But that was before I spoke with Umberto De Pretto. We met at last month’s Fikr conference in Kuwait, while speaking on a panel on Arab economic integration.

De Pretto is the Deputy Secretary General of the International Road Transport Union. He naturally spends much of his time thinking about the future of road transport.

Silk Road Gallery

Canton Trade Fair
August 12th, 2010

Editorials & Articles

“China cheat sheet helps investors survive”, Bloomberg, September 1, 2010

“No more silver bullets for Beijing”, Wall Street Journal, June 17, 2010

“China’s historic return to the Gulf”, Foreign Policy, April 2, 2010

Speaking Events

International Monetary Fund, Washington, October 10, 2010

SuperReturn Asia, Hong Kong, September 29, 2010

The Global Pricing Forum, Hong Kong, September 14, 2010