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Re:Across Kazakhstan by rail by jakub_g on Monday October 25, 2021 @11:53AM (#28989243)
The country opened up a few years ago once the long-term president died and was replaced by a more progressive one. There was a moderate amount of western investment since - modernizing rail, telecom infra etc.

Also as mentioned by another commenter: Uzbekistan is more wealthy than other countries of the region; it's a major exported of things like gas, cotton, silk.

Re:Across Kazakhstan by rail by baybal2 on Monday October 25, 2021 @12:39PM (#28989902)
> Uzbekistan is more wealthy than other countries of the region;

Absolutely not. Uzbekistan was the Central Asian version of North Korea.

The poverty was universal, and extreme.

And yes, a change from a braindead Kim Il Sung wannabe who boiled people alive to a plain idiot plutocrat could be considered a "change" to be welcomed.

Kazakhstan is by far the wealthiest Central Asian nation.

Re:Across Kazakhstan by rail by jakub_g on Monday October 25, 2021 @01:20PM (#28990503)
I didn't say it's more wealthy than KZ. I was comparing to Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan. (Not an expert but it seems to me UZ is well ahead those)