Greater Altai: Features of Development and International Cooperation

The article considers the Altai regions, located almost in the center of the Eurasian continent and being peripheral territories of Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, and Russia, with a predominantly agroindustrial type of development. The authors reveal the specific features of the functioning and potential opportunities for development of individual regions of Greater Altai in the context of their cross-border location and international cooperation, including within the framework of the Chinese The Belt and Road Initiative, which provides for new areas of cooperation, mainly in the field of increasing the transport connectivity of regions and creation of new transport and logistics chains. The regions of Greater Altai have a high mineral resource potential. Currently, this potential is poorly developed, with the exception of large deposits of Rudny Altai (Kazakhstan and southwestern Altai krai in Russia). The joint development of mineral resources can yield a synergistic effect for the development of all Altai regions, significantly changing their economic positions in the world markets for goods and services. The potential of recreational resources is also of significant interest in terms of the formation of historical, cultural, ecological, educational, and extreme international tours Golden Ring of Altai with the possibility of visiting all countries of the region. The construction of new transport routes in the territory of Western Mongolia and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China, the expansion and reconstruction of roads in Russia and Kazakhstan will increase the recreational opportunities of countries of the region, increase their internal and interregional communication connectivity, and provide favorable conditions for the development of intraregional trade and the creation of a modern market and tourism infrastructure.