Astana Hosts Central Asian Foreign Ministers Meeting and “Central Asia + Japan” Summit

The event is being held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan,  TuraNews.kz reports with reference to Kazinform.

“Welcome to Astana! First of all, I would like to express my deep gratitude for accepting my invitation to participate in the Meeting of Central Asian Foreign Ministers. Today’s meeting demonstrates our common support and firm commitment to further strengthening the multifaceted five-sided cooperation. We will sum up the results of the joint work done within the framework of Kazakhstan’s chairmanship and exchange views on regional and international issues,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, Murat Nurtleu, in his opening remarks.

Nurtleu expressed confidence that the meeting would be productive and lay a solid foundation for the successful summit of Central Asian leaders later in the day.

“Thanks to the political will and wisdom of our leaders, an atmosphere of trust has been established in the region. Every year, conditions are systematically created for deepening mutually beneficial comprehensive cooperation. Since the first Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia in Astana, we have achieved significant progress. Today, the combined GDP of all countries in the region is about 450 billion dollars. Sustainable growth in mutual trade has been ensured, with an 80% increase over the past 5 years, reaching 11 billion dollars. Mechanisms for interaction between parliaments, Security Councils, industry departments, as well as the Dialogue of Women Leaders, have been launched,” Nurtleu added.

The Minister highlighted that this year, the countries have reached a new level of practical interaction, with the Council of National Coordinators beginning its activities. The progress in regional cooperation has attracted international interest and is supported by strategic partners.

“This is evidenced by the results of the meetings held in the ‘CA+’ format with the participation of China, Russia, the USA, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Germany, Italy, and several multilateral structures. As chairman, Kazakhstan has worked actively to further strengthen the Consultative Meetings. For the first time, meetings of the Secretaries of Security Councils, Ministers of Energy and Information, and the Forum of Historians of Central Asian Countries were held. I express my gratitude for the support of Kazakhstan’s initiatives and fruitful joint work on preparing documents in industry, energy, transport, and logistics. A significant outcome of today’s Summit will be the signing of the Concept for the Development of Regional Cooperation ‘Central Asia – 2040’ by the heads of state. I am convinced that these documents will serve the further progressive development of mutually beneficial partnerships and strengthen our region’s international presence,” said Nurtleu.

The sixth Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia and the first Summit of the Central Asia – Japan Dialogue will be held today in the capital of Kazakhstan, marking a pivotal moment in regional cooperation.