ABSTRACT

The transition economies can be grouped into at least three geographical areas: (i) Central Eastern Europe (CEE); (ii) the former Soviet Union (FSU) or Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), which includes the Caucasus and Central Asia; and (iii) the Asian transition economies (ATEs), which include China and Vietnam but also countries such as Mongolia and Laos. Rural development in each of these areas has received different degrees of priority and policy attention. In the CEE countries, the prospect of becoming a member of the European Union1 and the closeness to Western European markets brought about more changes in rural areas than might initially have been expected, in particular through the influx of foreign direct investment and the establishment of joint ventures in the emerging agro-industrial and processing chains (Swinnen 2005). In Russia and most of the Caucasus and Central Asia this was much less the case, while in the ATEs the rural sector was a key element of reform (at least in the early stages).