Fascination of the ...stans!

Kashgar to turn into Economic Development Zone
By Maria Seow

www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/eastasia/view/1075951/1/.html

I have always been fascinated by the ...stans! This is eversince I watched the late P Ramlee movies which always have the ...stans taste. Goheadgostan! Kongostan! Hindustan! ...stan! ...stan! Who can forget the comical release of the movies.

The thought to blog came after I read the attached article about Kashgar. Where is Kashgar? I bet that 99.99% of the people that I know, if I ask them this question will never know where this place is.

This also happens during my last public forum some few months back. I asked the audience, does anyone know about Tartarstan? Of course, I was greeted with blank faces as Tartarstan is not significant to the general population. But...
Do you know that Tartarstan produces the highest quality of helicopters in the world?
Do you know that Tartarstan also produces high quality boats?
Do you know that Tartarstan is highly industrialized, ranks second to Samara Oblast in terms of production per km square?
Do you know that Tartarstan is very rich in oil and gas reserves?
Do you know that MM Lee Kuan Yew (ex PM of Singapore) has been there for 3 times to look for opportunities.
Why is it until now, Tartarstan has been out of the favor by most investing countries?

Around the borders the ex-Soviet or ex Turkic states, there are many other ...stans countries which we have never even bothered to know:-
1) Uzbekhistan
2) Turkmenistan
3) Afghanistan
4) Tajikistan
5) Bashkortostan
6) Karakalpakstan
7) Turkestan
8) Kyrgzstan
9) Kazakstan
10) Dagestan
11) ... maybe there are others that I dont know

There are also other countries not bearing the ...stans but worth mentioning. These countries are like Azerbaijan, Chuvashia, Tuva, Altai Republic, Khakassia, Yakutia, Tashkorgan and many others

In general these countries have a long history behind them. For instance Kashgar was one of the original silk road which has history of being conquered by the Chinese Han, Tang & Qing Dynasties, the Arab Caliphate, Uyghurs, Mongols and then First East Turkestan Republic via the battle of Kashgar. These are some long history to understand. Same goes with the USSR former occupation of the other ...stans states!

What I want to mention here is that there are business opportunities there. The countries listed above are mixed in their economy... some are rich and some are very very poor. Oil and gas seems to dominate the rich countries while dependence of agriculture dominates the poorer countries. But the potential is so huge.

In a very sceptical way, why do you think the American send more troops to Afghanistan? To fight the terrorist or to capture the rich minerals that Afghanistan have (they have an estimated USD100 trillion worth of minerals). Yet Afghanistan is still categorized as a poor country. Hummnn... this is another very strategic thinking of a far sighted opportunist country!


Still, the ...stans countries still fascinates me a lot!