Tashkent, Uzbekistan, March 19
By Demir Azizov - Trend:
The Uzbek foreign ministry's delegation will take part in the eighth meeting of senior officials of the "Central Asia plus Japan" dialogue at the level of deputy foreign ministers, the foreign ministry told Trend on March 18.
The delegations from Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Japan will attend the meeting to be held in Tokyo on March 19.
Japan has initiated a format of cooperation with the Central Asian countries - "Central Asia plus Japan" to accelerate the efforts to expand and strengthen closer ties with the regional countries.
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi officially announced this initiative during a visit to the regional countries in August 2004.
This has become a platform for discussing political, economic, as well as security issues.
The five major areas of cooperation among Central Asian countries and Japan are namely, a political dialogue, intra-regional cooperation, promotion of business, an intellectual dialogue, as well as a cultural and humanitarian dialogue.
The main principles as part of the dialogue are respect for diversity, competition, cooperation, and open cooperation.
A joint statement of foreign ministers of the countries participating in the dialogue was signed on August 28, 2004.
The previous meeting was held in Bishkek in October 2013.
Translated by NH
Edited by CN