AltSU geographers evaluated the transport and geographical potential of bordering regions the Greater Altai

15 July 2021 Department of Information and Media Communications
AltSU geographers summed up the results of the project "Economic and geographical challenges of cooperation between Altai Krai and the East Kazakhstan region."

The team of researchers, headed by Sergei Mamenov, lecturer at the Department of Physical Geography and GIS at the Institute of Geography of Altai State University, was faced with the task of identifying the features of economic and geographical cooperation between Altai Krai and East Kazakhstan region, analyzing the prospects for the development of this direction of interaction between these territories of Russia and Kazakhstan, as well as evaluating the transport and geographic potential in the context of the development of the geo-economic space of the Greater Altai designated in the project.

“The term “challenges” has become very popular in modern society at the turn of the XX-XXI centuries, which reflects the importance of this approach to the analysis of various situations. “Challenges” are understood as threats of a general nature associated with the emergence of any new factors in the development that create obstacles to normal functioning of natural and social systems in the geographical space,” explains the project manager S. Mamenov. “Among the various forms of interregional cooperation in the context of the development of integration processes, of course, attention is paid to near-border and cross-border cooperation, since cross-border interaction directly intersects vital problems, including foreign policy, economic, social, humanitarian, divided peoples, and others.”

The scientific and practical significance of the project, according to the researchers, lies in the possibility of using its results in the management of cooperation between the border areas of Russia and Kazakhstan. The analysis performed, the database, and the estimates obtained can be considered as software tools that can determine the strengths and weaknesses, growth points, and opportunities for improving the socio-economic situation in the borderlands for the territories of Altai Krai and East Kazakhstan region.

For example, the analysis of the transport system of the border regions of Altai Krai and East Kazakhstan region revealed a formed transport network. However, for the development of broader integration ties and the implementation of tasks within the framework of international agreements "Our Common Home - Altai" and "New Silk Road", it is necessary to build new transport routes, as well as repair and reconstruct the existing transport and road network.

It is worth mentioning that the project materials can be used in the Strategy for the Development of International Economic Cooperation of the Greater Altai within the framework of the activities of the International Coordination Council "Our Common Home - Altai", in other international programs and projects, in particular, as proposals for entering the project "One Belt One Road ”, and the development of a regional transport cluster within the framework of the concept of “The Silk Road Economic Belt.”

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