On November 16, the seventh Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia was held in Tashkent under the chairmanship of the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
The summit was attended by President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Japarov, President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov, as well as the head of the UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia Kaha Imnadze.
Mirziyoyev announced Azerbaijan’s accession to the Consultative Meeting format as a full-fledged participant, emphasizing that this decision fully meets the interests of our peoples, who are strongly connected by a common history, ties of kinship, spiritual and cultural affinity.
“We will build a strong bridge between Central Asia and the South Caucasus and pave the way for the formation of a single space of cooperation, which will undoubtedly strengthen the strategic interconnectedness and stability of both regions,” Mirziyoyev said.
He noted that today, Central Asia is rapidly integrating into the global economy: its investment attractiveness is growing, export opportunities to third-country markets are expanding, and its transit potential is increasing. Last year, the volume of mutual trade among the region’s countries reached $10.7 billion, and the total volume of investment in Central Asia increased by 17%.
The Uzbek leader put forward a number of initiatives to further strengthen regional cooperation.
Mirziyoyev proposed to transform the current meetings from a consultative form of regional dialogue into the “Community of Central Asia” strategic format.
He highlighted the priority of reaching a qualitatively new level of trade, economic, and investment cooperation, which would allow for a 1.5 to 2-fold increase in the volume of mutual trade and total foreign trade turnover in the medium term.
Mirziyoyev noted the need to adopt a Declaration on a common investment space to form a unified investment climate in the region. He also pointed out the demand for developing a Program of Joint Measures for the Development of E-Commerce, aimed at harmonizing approaches in this area, creating virtual trading platforms, and establishing reliable digital payment systems.
The construction of the China–Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan railway and the Trans-Afghan transport corridor were identified as priority projects for interregional transport connectivity. Attention was drawn to the significant potential of the Trans-Caspian routes connecting the region with European countries.
Given the increasing water scarcity in the region, it was proposed to declare 2026-2036 the Decade of practical actions for the rational use of water in Central Asia.
The importance of actively involving neighboring Afghanistan in the regional dialogue on the joint use of the Amudarya basin’s water resources was emphasized.
“I want to underscore that our strength lies in unity, and our path to success is through friendship and cooperation. Only by uniting, based on mutual respect, solidarity, and a strategic vision, will we achieve our noble goals,” Mirziyoyev concluded.
Photo: akorda.kz
