By Clare Nuttall in Almaty Central Asia’s location at the heart of the Eurasian landmass means the five republics are strategically positioned on key transport routes across the vast continent. These not only run from east to west — as the historic silk routes from China to Europe did — but increasingly from north to south as well, potentially opening up a large array of new markets to the Central Asian countries. At the same time the region faces disadvantages from being landlocked and far from international ports. Markets that are geographically close, such as India, the world’s most populou…