EU’s assessment of business environment in Central Asia

Since the beginning of the 21st century Central Asian region has achieved a rapid economic growth in spite of region’s extremely low intra-regional trade. The European Union remains an attractive partner for Central Asian countries and is a biggest economic partner for Central Asian countries. Since 2007 the European Union has been supporting Central Asia in its efforts to adequately respond to the needs and economic challenges of the region. In 2019 the EU revised its Strategy for Central Asia by putting emphasis on the region’s economic development and by increasing trade and investment flows between the EU and Central Asian countries. The promotion of an open, sound, secure and attractive climate for business and investment in Central Asia is one of the key elements of the revised strategy. The new strategy provides political guidance for programming new assistance programmes for Central Asia for the new financial framework of 2021-2027. The article aims to address some of the issues related to the EU’s assessment of business environment in Central Asia by  analysing publicly available expert interviews on this subject. Furthermore  the article looks at a brief conceptual overview of the business environment of Central Asian countries by using PEST analysis method. Finally, the research results indicates  that national reform agendas of Central Asian government should better support national policies and to improve local business environment by ensuring equal access to public services and improving business climate.The results also  indicates that  the promotion of EU norms and values in promoting economic growth in Central Asia should be prioritized.  Furthermore, a comparative assessment on the impact of the EU assistance programmes to the business environment in Central Asia is required.The research also concludes that achieving inclusive and sustainable economic growth still remains the main challenges for Central Asia.