BAKU, Azerbaijan, Nov. 29
By Fakhri Vakilov-Trend:
The second Consultative meeting of the heads of state of Central Asia has begun in Uzbekistan’s capital of Tashkent, Trend reports citing the press service of Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
The summit is attended by Mirziyoyev, First President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kyrgyzstan’s President Sooronbai Jeenbekov, Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmon and Turkmenistan’s President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov.
High summit participants then held a meeting in a narrow composition. Mirziyoyev addressed the meeting.
Mirziyoyev drew attention to the pressing issue of agreeing on a Common Vision for Multilateral Cooperation in Central Asia and put forward a number of other important initiatives such as deepening trade, economic and investment ties.
“It is important to maximize the competitive advantages of our region, which has a capacious market, significant natural raw materials and human resources. It is necessary to jointly identify opportunities and promote cooperation projects in various sectors of the economy in order to create a value chain, expand intra-regional trade, and create jobs,” Uzbekistan’s President said.
Uzbekistan is ready today for active cooperation in agricultural machinery, the automotive industry, the electrical, textile industry, and the agricultural sector.
For this purpose, Mirziyoyev proposed to organize the Investment Forum of Central Asian countries in Tashkent, to hold annual meetings of the leaders of the Chambers of Commerce.
The next important direction is strengthening transport interconnectedness and unlocking transit potential of the region.
During the meeting it was noted that the transport system of Central Asia should, first of all, ensure well-coordinated communications within the region, as well as effectively serve increasing transit flows using the modern infrastructure being created.
The necessity of accelerating the creation of a regional Council for Transport Communications, the harmonization of the Program and Agreement on the joint development of the transport system in Central Asia was emphasized.
Moreover, expanding cooperation in the energy sector, taking into account the long-term interests of the region was noted as well. Uzbekistan expressed its readiness to consider possibilities for implementing joint projects to create a modern energy infrastructure in the region, paying particular attention to increasing the share of renewable energy sources.
Among the most promising areas of cooperation is the realization of the huge tourism potential of Central Asian countries. Uzbekistan’s President noted the need to form a single, recognizable tourism brand of Central Asia with attractive regional tourism products.
To this end, Uzbekistan’s President proposed holding the International Travel Conference “Traveling in Central Asia”.
Mirziyoyev also advocated the development of coordinated approaches to solving problems of water use based on common long-term interests, noted the importance of coordinating the efforts of the countries of the region aimed at promoting peace, national harmony and economic recovery in Afghanistan.
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