All Central Asian countries have the distinction of being landlocked. This twist of geographical fate, unfortunately, has become the source of the many regional political, social, and economic problems facing the region. In particular, the economic problems have become significant obstacles to the development of Central Asian countries and the economic activities of their populations. For example, land transportation must be made via roads and rails through the territory of neighboring countries. The stable supply of energy, which is essential for economic development and people’s survival, often depends on the good will and cooperation of adjacent countries through which pipelines that supply the oil and natural gas pass through. Generally, construction of these pipelines require much investment and long-term planning. However, these underdeveloped economies often do not have enough money to invest in infrastructures and energy transportation routes. In this respect, they are suffering from geoeconomic problems as a result of being landlocked.
In addition, being landlocked makes these inland countries dependent on adjacent major powers economically and politically, as they can conduct trade with other countries only through their powerful neighbors and cannot help but be influenced by them. Central Asian countries, previously dependent economically on Russia during the Soviet era, are now dependent on China. This trend will likely continue in the medium term.
This implies that Central Asian countries must cooperate among themselves because they will not be able to overcome the problems of being landlocked without mutual cooperation. Therefore, various regional organizations for economic and political cooperation were established among Central Asian countries.
For example, there is the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the Central Asian Cooperation Organization (CACO), Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC) and the Central Asian Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC), among others. These organizations have various purposes and forms. However, their common goal is to solve their immediate problems and to overcome common obstacles in regional cooperation.
This study focuses on the Central Asian Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) in particular. CAREC works is arguably the most active among the regional cooperation organizations in Central Asia. CAREC, established in 1997, is made up of 10 member states and 6 multilateral organizations. The 10 member states include Central Asian states like Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan: along with China, Mongolia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Six multilateral organizations are: the Asian Development Bank (ADB), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), UNDP and World Bank. The ADB works as the secretariat of CAREC. The number and scale of CAREC projects increased very much during the 10 years from 2001 to 2011. There were only six CAREC projects involving about USD 200 million in 2001, but the figures increased to about 100 projects and USD 17 billion by 2011.
The dominant sectors in CAREC projects include transport, energy, and trade facilitation sectors. These sectors represent an urgent necessity not only for the development of individual CAREC members but also for the development of Central Asia as a whole. The main portion of CAREC projects are in the transport sector. Among the total investment amount of USD 17 billion, 12 billion went to the transport sector, whereas the energy and trade facilitation sectors received only USD 3.2 billion and USD 2.2 billion, respectively. Various CAREC projects are currently being implemented, but the targeted goals of CAREC can be achieved only if relevant institutional and administrative problems are resolved, and the quality of economic life for the people of Central Asia would be greatly improved. Until now, the most important outcome institutionally is the establishment of regular meetings of the related officials of CAREC member states. These regular meetings allow the related officials to engage in earnest discussion of their common problems, not to mention reinforce cooperation.
Several Korean companies have already participated in CAREC projects for road construction, construction inspection and etc. For the future, prospective CAREC projects include power grid construction, renewable energy, and energy efficiency in the energy sector. In trade facilitation, it is necessary to utilize the Official Development Aid as a participation strategy, or participate together with other multilateral organizations in CAREC projects.

국문요약

제1장 서 론
1. 연구 필요성과 목적
2. 선행연구 및 연구방법

제2장 CAREC의 현황 및 특징
1. 중앙아시아 지역경제협력체의 현황과 발전
2. CAREC의 설립 및 특징과 주요 사업 부문

제3장 운송 부문과 CAREC
1. 운송물류체계의 특징과 문제점
2. 운송체계의 연계성과 통과운송
3. CAREC의 주요 운송사업과 운송회랑
4. 운송 부문에서 CAREC의 성과

제4장 에너지 부문과 CAREC
1. 에너지 부문의 특징과 문제점
2. 에너지 부문에서 CAREC의 주요 사업
3. 에너지 부문에서 CAREC의 성과

제5장 무역원활화 부문과 CAREC
1. 무역원활화 현황과 문제점
2. 무역원활화를 위한 CAREC의 발전방향과 주요 제도
3. 무역 인프라 협력 부문에서 CAREC의 성과와 과제

제6장 CAREC과 한국의 협력방안
1. 운송 부문의 협력방안
2. 에너지 부문의 협력방안
3. 무역원활화 부문의 협력방안

제7장 결 론

참고문헌

부 록

Executive Summary