As head of the United States delegation, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Bruce Andrews delivered welcoming remarks today at the first-ever Tbilisi Silk Road Forum in Tbilisi, Georgia. Hosted by Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili, the Forum brought together 32 countries and almost 1,000 participants to exchange best practices, maximize opportunities and address challenges of how to strengthen regional cooperation.

During his remarks, Deputy Secretary Andrews highlighted that the re-emergence of the historic Silk Road trade, transit, and energy corridor that connects Asian and European markets holds great economic development potential. He also emphasized how stronger regional cooperation is key to developing a viable and competitive transportation and logistics corridor that can strengthen local and regional economies. The United States deeply supports efforts to transform the region into a vibrant commercial trade network, and the Department of Commerce will continue to serve as a committed partner to the countries along the Silk Road.

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery

Good morning. Prime Minister Garibashvili, thank you for your gracious hospitality in welcoming us to your country. This is my first visit to Georgia, and I’m looking forward to trying your fine wine and khachapuri.

I also want to recognize your government’s efforts to turn Georgia into a trade and logistics hub here in the Caucasus. I have been watching your transformation closely, and I’m really impressed by your forward-thinking vision for the future of your country.

More than two thousand years ago, the original Silk Road served as the first true link between eastern and western markets. For more than a century, this corridor connected South and Central Asia with Europe and the Middle East, moving not only goods but also religious and cultural traditions that continue to influence our world to this day. The result was an explosion in commerce and the creation of newfound wealth for cultures and communities across the 4,000 miles between China and Europe. The original Silk Road proves that trade and commerce can serve as a uniting force for a region and its people.

Today, we have an opportunity to once again embrace ties of commerce as a means to create greater regional integration. All of us here today understand that the countries of the Caucasus and Central Asia stand to benefit from economic cooperation – but we also know that this is easier said than done. Central Asia is a dynamic and diverse group of countries, each with independent national interests.

Historical grievances often impede progress and collaboration – but the shared desire for greater economic development and prosperity should and must supersede national boundaries.  Each country along the New Silk Road corridor plays an integral role in developing the economic bridge between Europe and Asia. And each one is necessary in order for the others to prosper and become more self-reliant.

The re-emergence of the New Silk Road trade, transit, and energy corridor holds great economic development potential, if leaders across the region seize this important opportunity to economically link their products, markets, and communications with one another.

The United States wants to serve as a committed partner in the march towards greater integration for all the countries in the New Silk Road corridor. We want to see increased security; greater economic development and connectivity; and a more advanced rules-based business and investment climate across the region.

This region has the potential to offer goods and energy to the booming economies and populations of South and East Asia; to serve as a stabilizing force for Afghanistan’s transition; and to act as an indispensable partner in the fight against narco-trafficking, terrorism, and extremism. For these reasons and more, we encourage all of the countries along the New Silk Road to seize this important opportunity to transform this region into a viable commercial and energy corridor between Europe and Asia.

For its part, our United States government is focusing our efforts on four areas: creating a regional energy market; improving trade and transport routes; facilitating customs and border operations; and promoting business-to-business and people-to-people links.

Working with our partners and with the support of U.S. Embassies across the region, the Department of Commerce has made concrete contributions to strengthening economic ties in this area of the world. We are committed to building those relationships, and we believe U.S. companies bring many of the technologies, services, and expertise needed to make the New Silk Road a reality.

That is why, earlier this year, we certified and supported a trade mission to Georgia sponsored by the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi and the American Chambers of Commerce in both Turkey and Georgia. A delegation of high-quality U.S. companies held more than 80 meetings with local businesses, where they identified new business opportunities and new ways to deepen our trade and investment ties.

My Department also organized the first ever U.S.-Kazakhstan Business Forum, held in Astana earlier this year, and another trade mission will visit Azerbaijan next month.

At each of these events – and in all of our engagement throughout the region – our message is clear: we are ready and willing to be your partners as you undertake the challenging but necessary work of integrating the nations of Central Asia and the Caucasus. If you are developing a project or if you need a technology supplier – consider working with a U.S. provider. I am confident that you will find that U.S. companies can be tremendous partners for you and your country.

In addition, the United States supports each nation’s right to pursue its own economic integration ambitions, whether that means greater Euro-Atlantic integration, WTO membership, or membership in the Eurasian Economic Union. We congratulate Georgia on its ratification of an Association Agreement with the European Union and stand ready to support Georgia as it implements this agreement.

We also applaud Kazakhstan on its upcoming accession into the WTO. I look forward to the implementation of Kazakhstan’s WTO commitments and the fulfillment of President Nazarbayev’s “100 Steps” plan of economic reform. At the same time, we encourage countries to remember that international companies are more likely to invest when they can compete on a level playing field.

Regardless of which path countries choose to embark on – and in order to best promote investment and integration – they need to ensure that the emerging regulatory architecture in the region meets international standards and does not impede regional economic growth by establishing new trade barriers. Creating these new, open trade ties is an important step towards greater integration in the region.

In my current position, I have met with thousands of companies of all sizes. And what I hear again and again is that most firms – whether from the United States or elsewhere – are willing to invest anywhere there is a good opportunity.

With increased mobility of capital, it’s a competitive world out there, and there are many options for companies seeking to do business abroad. In this environment, attracting investment is a competition between markets, not just in the region but throughout the world. It is not enough to make your market slightly more attractive or to slightly easier to do business in your country. You must do everything you can to make your market the most attractive destination it can be – because if you don’t, others will.

In this corridor – where cooperation and collaboration are so important – we must think about how we make the region better able to succeed in this global competition. One way this region can compete is to continue to make the infrastructure improvements needed to live up to your economic potential. 

We are currently seeing railway and pipeline construction projects, road development, and port improvements all across Central Asia and the Caucasus, thanks in part to support from Multilateral Development Banks and third party countries that stand to benefit from better connections in the region.

For example, Chevron is a major U.S. partner in a $5.4 billion project to nearly double the capacity of the Tengiz/CPC Pipeline.With the assistance of entities like the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, and EBRD, Georgia and Azerbaijan are jointly making rapid progress modernizing and expanding their roads, railways, ports, and energy infrastructure to make the Caucasus a key node along the New Silk Road, which the U.S. fully supports. And this summer, Contour Global finalized a $250 million investment in Armenia’s Vorotan hydropower plant.

These investments in physical infrastructure are important, but building a new Silk Road needs more than just roads and bridges. It requires “soft infrastructure” as well – the policies necessary to facilitate the flow of people, goods, and financing across the entire continent. Companies look at the ease of doing business when considering a country or market.

For example, Georgia has done great work eliminating corruption and instilling confidence in investors, but the reality is that many companies still face numerous regulatory and infrastructure barriers here.

The United States strongly encourages regional leaders to expedite the elimination of these barriers – which is why the U.S. Commerce Department’s Commercial Law Development Program created the Central Asia-Afghanistan Working Groups focused on customs, standards, and sanitary and phytosanitary measures.

We hope to see continued participation, progress, and expansion of the working groups in the future, which are helping develop critical soft infrastructure elements, including improving intellectual property rights regimes and enforcement; streamlining customs procedures in line with international standards and best practices; and creating a climate where individuals feel at liberty to speak openly.

If this region is to fully realize its potential and vision of shared prosperity, it must embrace these kinds of progressive policies that enable its economies to more fully integrate into the global marketplace, build more open societies, and promote innovation.

In order to reclaim the glory of the old Silk Road, we cannot look back. We must focus and look to the future. The time is now for the region to embrace the forward-looking, economic growth agenda necessary to reclaim its historic role as a crossroads of trade, commerce, and culture. The success of these efforts will depend on the ability of countries along the Silk Road corridor to work together to turn their ideas and vision into reality.

If you succeed, I am confident that you can create greater prosperity for people across not only Central Asia and the Caucasus, but all over the world. Thank you.