Joint infrastructure, energy and green development projects
A “new Central Asia” united, resilient, with joint infrastructure and energy projects, and committed to promoting green development and practical actions for rational use of water. This is the objective set by the heads of state of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan with the participation of Azerbaijan, at the conclusion of the Seventh Consultative Meeting of Central Asian Countries, in Tashkent (Uzbekistan).
The leaders present noted how the region 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 trade between countries in the region reached $10.7 billion, and total investment in Central Asia increased by 17%.
Favorite hits. it has been said, by the measures adopted to guarantee security and stability and to counter the threats of terrorism, extremism and transnational crime.
The President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, said: “I am convinced that today we are on the threshold of a historic rebirth of the region as New Central Asia. We have set ourselves the task of strengthening the institutional foundations of our cooperation and developing a coordinated response to the challenges of security and sustainable development.” Mirziyoyev then highlighted the importance of bringing trade, economic and investment cooperation to a qualitatively new level, enabling a 1.5-2 times increase in mutual trade and overall foreign trade turnover in the medium term.
The importance of eliminating administrative barriers, simplifying tax and customs procedures and jointly using economic and industrial free zones was then underlined. “We propose to implement regional projects for the construction and modernization of power plants, transmission lines, highways and railways, border crossings, green corridors, fiber optic lines and other infrastructure,” the leader of Uzbekistan noted.
Among the priority projects for interregional transport connectivity, the construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway and the Trans-Afghan transport corridor were highlighted.
In the context of growing climate challenges and water scarcity for countries in the region, the importance of accelerating the adoption of Green Development in Central Asia was highlighted. Finally, in the area of scientific and educational cooperation, it was proposed to establish a Research Fund to finance interstate projects, support the academic community and expand opportunities for the introduction of artificial intelligence technologies.
