Bridge over lonely borders

By mid-August, if work here is completed on schedule, this isolated stretch of river will become a leg in an ambitious plan to connect trade and energy markets in South and Central Asia. The bridge, underwritten by Washington and designed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, is at the centre of plans to establish a trade route from Kazakhstan to Pakistan. The corridor has been under construction for several years; Western and Central Asian diplomats say it will soon take shape.

8220;The bridge is the symbol, the concrete symbol, of larger regional integration,8221; Tracey Ann Jacobson, the United States ambassador to Tajikistan, said in May.

Under plans in progress along the route, foreign developers have been extending Central Asia8217;s and Afghanistan8217;s limited network of roads, tunnels and bridges. The improvements have been under way in Kyrgyz mountain passes and the arid canyons between Kabul and Jalalabad in Afghanistan, the route that leads to the Khyber Pass. They have been paid for by China, Iran, the United States and other nations, many of them competing for influence in the region.

Now many projects are nearing completion. They might not merely improve access, but undo the trends of history.

During Soviet times, Central Asia faced north and west toward the Kremlin, moving goods to and from cities along the line. Afghanistan faced toward Pakistan or Iran, feeling more affinity to Islamic traders than to the Slavic-led Communists to the north.

The border where the two worlds met served as an obstacle to robust trade. 8220;It was a wall for a long time,8221; Hamrokhon Zarifi, Tajikistan8217;s foreign minister says.

After the Soviet Union8217;s collapse, the murky Panj was crossed mostly by smugglers, armed groups and those with the means or connections to navigate the complications it posed.

In place of these limited and sometimes illegal border crossings, Tajikistan and other countries seek a two-stage development. First, beginning this year, they hope that fleets of trucks will regularly be driven across the border, generating trade.

Proponents point out that goods to Tajikistan now travel overland roughly 4,300 miles from ports on the Baltic Sea, on the far side of Russia. Ports in Pakistan or Iran, which will be accessible once the bridge opens, are less than half that distance away.

Later, developers hope to construct power lines along the route, carrying electricity from Tajik hydropower stations, most of them not yet built, to Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran.

Questions remain about how many such dreams will be realised. Experience in neighbouring Uzbekistan has shown that access alone does not guarantee trade. In the 1980s, the Soviet Union built a bridge to Afghanistan, downstream from here on the Amu Darya. Uzbekistan inherited the span when the Soviet Union collapsed, then closed it in the 1990s as the Taliban spread.

Beginning late in 2001, after the Taliban lost its hold in northern Afghanistan, the Uzbek government allowed the UN to move food and aid across the bridge. But otherwise it has largely been padlocked. Tajik and American officials insist the bridge over the Panj will be run differently. 8220;It will be a very busy bridge,8221; said Zarifi, the foreign minister.

He noted that Tajikistan had already shown that its attitude toward foreigners differed from that in Uzbekistan: last year it eased visa rules for visitors from 68 countries. But other complications remain. Security is still a concern along the corridor, especially in Afghanistan, where the Kabul-to-Kandahar route is prowled by criminals and insurgents.

A range of other problems could also undermine prospects for growth and investment. These include endemic corruption with border agents and the traffic police. A shortage of banking transparency and independent judges also undermine a mature business climate. 8220;There is a reason that there is not a lot of investment here,8221; said Elizabeth K. Horst, chief of the political and economics section at the American Embassy in Dushanbe. 8220;It8217;s not ready for it.8221; About the trade corridor, she added, 8220;It is a really good idea, but making it happen on the ground is going to be harder than people realise..But one day these countries will be used to trading together.8221;

The New York Times