Uzbekistan promotes cooperation in Central, South Asia

President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev delivers a speech during the “Central and South Asia: Regional Connectivity. Challenges and Opportunities" conference in Tashkent, Friday. Courtesy of Presidential Office of Uzbekistan

By Kwon Mee-yoo

Uzbekistan hosted an international conference, discussing regional security, economic integration and the culture of Central and South Asia, from Thursday to Friday.

About 250 participants from 44 countries took part in the conference, including Afghanistani President Ashraf Ghani and Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan.

President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who initiated the conference, emphasized how Central and South Asian states serve as a bridge for the countries in the Middle East, Europe and China.

“Today the world has entered the era of global geopolitical transformations, which bring both challenges and new opportunities. In these conditions, the revival of mutual ties between Central and South Asia, where about 2 billion people live today, is an even more in-demand process," Mirziyoyev said.

"I think that the time has come, based on the huge historical, scientific, spiritual and cultural heritage of our peoples, the complementarity of economies and the availability of intellectual potential, to consolidate our joint efforts, which will undoubtedly have a powerful synergy effect."

Mirziyoyev also mentioned the importance of strengthening peace and friendship, trust and neighborliness, enhancing mutually beneficial cooperation and building an open and constructive policy to meet the common interests of all Central and South Asian states.

He presented some initiatives to achieve these goals, such as a railway connecting Termez, Mazar-i-Sharif, Kabul and Peshawar, along with measures to implement digital connectivity in trade, transit and border crossing.

An annual interregional forum was proposed by Mirziyoyev to discuss the current issues of enhancing the economic agenda items of deepening cooperation and investment interaction between the countries of the two regions.

Delegations from the C5+1 countries ― or Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and the U.S. ― also adopted a jointed statement affirming their commitment to enhancing engagement through a regional diplomatic platform and strengthening connectivity.

Delegations from 44 countries participated in the “Central and South Asia: Regional Connectivity. Challenges and Opportunities" conference in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Friday. Courtesy of the Presidential Office of Uzbekistan

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sent a video message to the conference, highlighting the significance of peace of the region at the international level.

"Connectivity is central to trade, economic growth and sustainable development. But connectivity is not just about economics. It drives regional cooperation and encourages friendly relations among neighbors, near and far. Enhanced connectivity that is environmentally sustainable and based on the rule of law can contribute to building long-term peace, stability and prosperity in Central and South Asia. This is crucial now more than ever," Guterres said.

"The countries of Central and South Asia can only fully benefit from potential opportunities if the region at-large is at peace. This places an even higher premium on the importance of active and collective engagement in support of Afghanistan's peace and security. Let's work together to ensure that the potential dividends of peace are understood well enough by all so that the promise of connectivity itself becomes a counterbalance to the threat of further deterioration in Afghanistan."

On Thursday, the International Institute for Central Asia opened in Tashkent and President Mirziyoyev proposed to create an expert group on the development of regional cooperation.

“The historical, cultural and civilizational community of Central and South Asia, along with the coinciding interests of our countries and peoples, are a solid foundation on which we can build a common prosperous future. Together we will have to turn Central and South Asia, and our entire Eurasian continent, into a stable, economically developed and prosperous space," Mirziyoyev said.