|  | Transition : Ten Years On
 Over the past decade, central planning has largely disappeared in the countries of Europe and Central Asia (ECA). The challenge today is to build up the market institutions that are replacing the moribund state bureaucracies and make them work effectively so they offer better lives and new opportunities to the 500 million people who inhabit the vast region.
For the majority of people in ECA's 28 countries, the 10-year transition from central planning to the market has been traumatic. History provided few pointers about how to manage such momentous changes across such a diversity of cultures and circumstances. Ten years on, differences within the region have become more pronounced. Incomes range from $10,070 a head in Slovenia to $170 in Tajikistan. While societies in Central Europe are heavily urbanized, those in Central Asia remain largely rural. And although many countries, especially those in Central Europe, are on a path towards accession to the European Union, others struggle with the legacies of long simmering tensions in the Balkans, the South Caucasus and Central Asia.
Nevertheless, there are signs that the transition recession, which temporarily gripped the formerly centrally planned countries, is now largely a matter of the past. With the exception of Turkey – which has been hit by a major earthquake and a serious financial crisis - all ECA countries have shown positive growth over the past two years. In Central Europe the economic recovery started in the mid-1990s. Over the last two years the Balkans, Russia and Ukraine have also experienced strong growth. Economic performance in Russia and the states of the Caspian basin has been bolstered by huge energy and mineral resources. The European Union, and the prospect of accession in the near or distant future, has served as an important anchor for reforms in the better performing states of Central Europe and, more recently, has acted as a spur to peace and reconciliation in the Balkans. |