Environmental issues in Kazakhstan at the Semipalatinsk nuclear testing facility (in fact a large zone south of Kourchatov (Курчатов)) and along the Chinese border. The Central Asian Regional Environmental Center is located in Kazakhstan, which fosters regional cooperation on environmental issues. Most of Kazakhstan’s water supply has been polluted by industrial and agricultural runoff and, in some places, radioactivity. The Aral Sea, which is shared with Uzbekistan, has shrunk to three separate bodies of water because of water drawdowns in its tributary rivers. A Soviet-era biological weapons site is a threat because it is located on a former island in the Aral Sea that
Science and technology in Uzbekistan on nurturing new high-tech industries and orienting the economy towards export markets. Whereas Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan have been members of the World Trade Organization since 1998, 2013 and 2015 respectively, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan have adopted a policy of self-reliance. Symptomatic of this policy is the lesser role played by foreign direct investment in Uzbekistan. It contributed just 1.6% of GDP in 2015, after peaking at 4.2% of GDP in 2010. In Uzbekistan, the state controls virtually all strategic sectors of the economy, including agriculture, manufacturing and finance, foreign investors being relegated to less vital sectors like tourism. Funding for