BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 23. The EU attaches great importance to the countries of Central Asia, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell told Trend.
Referring to the 19th EU-Central Asia Ministerial Meeting held on October 23 this year, Borrell said that the EU regularly holds meetings with five Central Asian countries at the level of foreign ministers, and this year's innovation is that 27 foreign ministers of EU Member States will join it.
"The meeting allows us to exchange views on common regional challenges and opportunities, as well as discuss how to promote our cooperation in areas of interest to both the EU and partners in Central Asia. Ministers are free to raise any topic they deem important, but we will certainly devote some time to issues such as cooperation in such sectoral issues as sustainable transport, green energy, trade, investment, and resilience," he said.
Borrell noted that they will also discuss opportunities to strengthen cooperation within the framework of the Global Gateway initiative to implement specific projects in the field of digitalization and combating climate change.
"The ministerial meeting in Luxemburg is a very important element in the preparations for the first EU-Central Asia Summit next year at the highest political level to confirm our mutual determination to build stronger ties and strengthen our cooperation. Taking place ahead of the first ever Global Gateway Forum, this meeting will also take stock of the regional Team Europe initiatives on digital connectivity, water, energy, and climate change and provide an opportunity to discuss concrete projects in preparation of the EU Investors Forum in January next year," he added.
At the same time, Borrell added that this meeting will also prepare an investor forum on sustainable transport, which will be held in January 2024.
Meanwhile, the 19th EU-Central Asia Ministerial Meeting is taking place in Luxembourg today, which was attended by representatives of all Central Asian countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The main purpose of this meeting was to discuss issues of cooperation and search for solutions to current problems.