Home – Home – Jornals – Region: Economics and Sociology 2023 number 1

The article considers the Altai regions located practically in the center of the Eurasian continent, peripheral to Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, and Russia with mainly agro-industrial development. We identify functional features and potential growth opportunities for individual Greater Altai regions in the framework of their cross-border location and international cooperation, specifically within the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative. The initiative provides for new areas of cooperation largely in improving the connectivity of regions, creating new transport and logistics chains. There is a high mineral potential in Greater Altai, which is now poorly developed, except for the large deposits at the Rudny Altai (Kazakhstan and southwest Altai Krai). Joint development of mineral resources can provide a synergistic effect on how all Altai regions evolve, significantly changing their economic position in the global goods and services markets. The potential of recreational resources is also of significant interest in terms of arranging international historical, cultural, ecological, cognitive, and extreme tours around the “Golden Ring of Altai" covering all the region’s countries. Construction of new highways in Western Mongolia and Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, expansion and reconstruction of roads in Russia and Kazakhstan will increase the recreational potential of these countries, boost their internal and interregional communication connectivity, create favorable conditions for intraregional trade, and establish modern market and tourism infrastructure.