Paper Title
Central Asia: Between the Eurasian Economic Union and one Belt one Road Initiative
Abstract
The post-soviet Central Asian economies are surrounded by two natural trading partners, Russia and China. This
article aims at comparing, which of those partners plays a more significant role as importer of the key export articles from
the Central Asian economies. Revealed comparative advantage (RCA) approach is used to determine the key export
industries. Subsequently, shares of items produced at a comparative advantage, together with shares of medium and highskill
products imported by Russia and China is compared, in order ascertain, which of those regional powers offers superior
chances to develop domestic export industries. Based on the conducted analysis, China is more significant partner for larger
countries, i.e. for Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, while Russia remains more significant for Kyrgyzstan and
Tajikistan.
Index terms: Central Asia, China, Russia, export, comparative advantage