The Eurasian Economic Union as an Element of the Belt and Road Initiative

Abstract

<jats:p>The New Silk Road, or actually the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), is a Chinese concept aimed at facilitating international trade between China, Europe and Africa as well as building a new international economic order and security system. More than 60 countries belonging to various economic groupings with different levels of economic development and economic openness have been involved in the BRI. Many branches of the BRI run through the countries belonging to the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). This is mainly the Trans‑Siberian corridor, being the northern branch of the Route, which is being developed in the most dynamic way and is the most exploited among all railway connections between China and Europe. In theory, the EAEU and its customs union between Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia should allow the easy transit of goods between Europe and Asia. Transport infrastructure, much better than in the case of the other BRI railway branches, seems to be an additional advantage. Unfortunately, political and structural factors, as well as the embargo imposed by Russia on many goods originating in Western Europe, significantly limit the possibilities of using this transport route. The aim of the article is to examine the potential of the Eurasian Economic Union as part of the Belt and Road Initiative and assess the possibility of using the transport corridor running through the territory of the EAEU within the BRI. We will also identify the main determinants that will affect the development of transport and logistics corridors running through the EAEU in the future.</jats:p>

Foresight as a Tool for the Planning and Implementation of Visions for Smart City Development

“…Together with a growing popularity of the smart city concept, there appear numerous new projects based on innovative technologies helping cities to solve the emerging problems of technical infrastructure [1,2], pollution and environmental protection [3,4], waste management [5,6], spatial development [7,8], logistics and urban transport [9,10], ageing society [11,12], poverty [13,14] and low levels of involvement of residents in public affairs [15,16]. After all, many of them fail to satisfy their initial objectives due to the fact that they are not adapted to the complexity, diversity and uncertainty characterising contemporary cities [17].…”

The Belt and Road Initiative and Its Perceived Impacts on the Textile and Garment Industry of Vietnam

“…(iii) The third corridor is the China-Central Asia-West Asia Economic Corridor which connects China with the Arabian Peninsula and runs through the territory of the Eurasian Economic Union [9]. The corridor mainly involves building railways covering Central Asian countries, Iran, and Turkey with possible extensions.…”

Poland – A Gate to the EU or a Bottleneck in the Belt and Road Initiative

“…First, there has still been no common ground between the EU and the EAEU. This directly translates into numerous bottlenecks in transport infrastructure on the EU-EAEU border (Lobyrev et al, 2018;Czerewacz-Filipowicz, 2019). Second, the junction and overlapping of three important initiatives of the EU, the EAEU and the BRI provokes a need for harmonious and stable relations between them.…”

“…However, the BRI dynamics means that the bandwidth of this border crossing is definitely insufficient. In addition, the joint of the Polish-Belarusian border is indicated as a bottleneck and one of the most serious problems of the BRI rail branches (Lobyrev et al, 2018, Czerewacz-Filipowicz, 2019. The expansion of the Terespol-Brest border crossing and the logistics center in Małaszewicze seems to be insufficient to solve this problem.…”

“…However, both from the perspective of Poland and other countries concerned, e.g. Lithuania, Latvia, Hungary, Romania and Greece, it is important to properly assess their potential, opportunities and actions that should be taken immediately so that the BRI concept brings notable effects to their economies (Nazarko, Czerewacz-Filipowicz and Kuźmicz, 2017;Czerewacz-Filipowicz, 2019).…”