Diplomat calls for making 'connectivity' a priority

People pass a five-star hotel designed, built and managed by Chinese in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, on Monday. China's ambassador to Kazakhstan says roads between the two countries are urgently needed. [Photo/China Daily]

Editor's note: During his visit to Kazakhstan in September, President Xi Jinping proposed that China and Central Asia join hands to build a Silk Road Economic Belt to boost cooperation. The idea has been widely echoed in Central Asian countries, becoming an encouraging blueprint for Chinese areas along the Silk Road that linked Asia and Europe for more than 2,000 years. China Daily reporters will travel through the belt. They will show the progress and expectations of the countries, businesses and peoples on the route.

China and Kazakhstan must focus on "connectivity" in the broadest sense－from roads to communication networks－to realize the goal of building the Silk Road Economic Belt so that both countries can reap the benefits of development, said China's ambassador to Kazakhstan, Le Yucheng.

"The building of the Silk Road Economic Belt is still at an early stage. Much work needs to be done, and I think the most urgent is road construction; namely establishing connectivity," Le said in an interview.

Inland Kazakhstan connects both the developed European economic bloc and the emerging Asian economic bloc, and it enjoys unique geographical advantages and enormous potential, he said.

"To transform this potential to reality, all networks, be they roads, railways, airlines, pipelines, telecommunication and even satellite communication, should be integrated," the ambassador said.

Plamen Dimitzov, a professor of international relations and energy security at Eurasian National University in Astana, capital of Kazakhstan, agreed that connections will be crucial.

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