From trust-based cooperation to joint development
The eighth Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia and Azerbaijan, held in Avaza, Turkmenistan, once again demonstrated how profoundly the region has changed in recent years. Once characterized by unresolved disputes and limited economic ties, the region is now entering a new phase of cooperation and integration.
Today, Central Asia is emerging as a region of trust, pragmatism and shared economic development. This transformation began with the initiative put forward by the President of Uzbekistan in 2017 to establish Consultative Meetings of Central Asian Heads of State. The dialogue, launched in Astana in 2018, continued in Tashkent, Avaza, Cholpon-Ata, Dushanbe and Astana. At the seventh summit, held in Tashkent in November 2025, participants made a historic decision to grant Azerbaijan full participation in the format.
The latest meeting in Turkmenistan marked the first summit held in the expanded format. In his address, the President of Uzbekistan proposed moving beyond simply increasing mutual trade towards establishing joint industrial and technological value chains. This new approach is captured in the formula “six economies, one product”. This represents a qualitatively new stage of regional cooperation, in which enterprises from several countries actively contribute to creating shared added value, from raw materials and components to processing, assembly, logistics and the export of finished products.
We can already see how sound the decision to include Azerbaijan in this format has been. For landlocked Uzbekistan, the Caspian route via Turkmenbashi and Baku opens up additional access to markets in the Caucasus, Türkiye and Europe. Turkmenbashi International Seaport has an annual cargo-handling capacity of up to 17 million tons, excluding petroleum products. Against this backdrop, proposals to establish an Infrastructure Development Council, coordinate transport projects and develop industrial and logistics zones along transport corridors are of considerable practical importance to our economy.
The economic foundation for such cooperation is already in place. In 2025, trade between Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan reached nearly $1.2 billion. Economic ties with Azerbaijan are also expanding rapidly. Between 2017 and 2025, bilateral trade increased 9.5-fold to $307.3 million. Uzbekistan is home to 460 enterprises with Azerbaijani capital. Thus, expanding the Consultative Meeting format strengthens Central Asia’s political and economic ties with the South Caucasus.
The agenda ahead is equally ambitious. Uzbekistan has proposed establishing a platform for financial and technical monitoring of joint investment projects, holding a Central Asia – Azerbaijan Business Forum in Khiva in 2027, developing a joint concept for low-carbon energy, expanding cooperation on critical minerals, and creating shared computing infrastructure based on interconnected national data centers. These initiatives will help deepen regional economic cooperation, increase joint investment, and advance energy and industrial development.
The outcomes of the Avaza meeting are particularly significant for UzLiDeP and our parliamentary representatives. Our party has consistently developed entrepreneurship, private initiative, a favorable investment climate, and greater opportunities for the business community. Regional economic integration fully aligns with these priorities. The fewer barriers at borders, the easier access to transport and financing, and the greater the opportunities for joint production and market access, the more confident entrepreneurs will feel.
The Avaza meeting once again demonstrated that Central Asia is entering a new phase in which political trust is being transformed into economic capital. Initiated by the President of Uzbekistan, this format has evolved from restoring regional dialogue into a platform for practical cooperation. For Uzbekistan, this opens up new opportunities to access markets and transport routes, attract investment, expand production and create jobs.
Aktam Khaitov,
Head of the UzLiDeP Faction in the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis
