I tend to stay away, and will do so here, from the political (in this blog, anyway). My opening is qualifying that this approaches the political.
When I think of global business, I tend to think of two arenas even before the countries are mentioned: the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) and the abstraction of cultural differences. In my heart, I’m abundantly aware that people are essentially the same everywhere, except for the expressions of cultural differences. It tends to be governments and corporations that always seem to be at issue. Having studied Russia 30 years now, India 22 and China just the last three or four it is somewhat of a hobby trying to stay abreast of what goes on around the world.
Kyrgyzstan has been a bit of a roller coaster of late. In April the government was replaced. That may or may not prove out to be positive. Riots precipitated that, and the opposition responded back about three weeks ago through about a week ago. That’s all unfortunate. Meanwhile, the provisional government is moving toward becoming the first parliamentary democracy in Central Asia. Very great. And then yesterday, it’s former colonial power’s president, Russia’s Medvedev, decided to make a statement against such a move. Not good. A roller coaster, right?
So, who cares? Well, naturally, we all should. The people live in desperate poverty, yet they’re a highly literate country (over 98%). Mountainous and landlocked it is nonetheless a country of extraordinary natural beauty. Its primary extraction industry is gold. Kyrgyzstan is a member of the WTO. And being in the heart of Central Asia it straddles a crossroads of sorts between Europe and Asia. When one compares business conditions in Kyrgyzstan with even Eastern Europe, most if not all conditions seem significantly favorable. From a cultural perspective, the blend of East and West is already who they are, and so various marketing perspectives that would be heavy lifting elsewhere may be givens here.
The country and its people seem to have so very much to offer, including an average infrastructure, yet after so many years as a stepchild of the Soviet's they just need some tools, some basic help … like investment and business. Of course, one wants to be prudent and see how things shake out. Still, here’s the one two punch: pray now it all indeed works out, then move in and celebrate the win-win opportunity to do business there.
I wish the Kyrgyzstani’s all the best. I’ll be keeping an eye in that direction with hope.
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