The 2nd Meeting in the Central Asia plus German Format that took place in Kazakhstan’s capital of Astana on September 17 brought together the five Central Asian heads of state and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The meeting reportedly focused on expanding trade between the West and Central Asia. According to some sources, Germany is particularly interested in boosting natural gas imports from the region as part of a continuing pan-European Union effort to pivot away from Russian energy.
DPA news agency reports that speaking at the meeting, Olaf Scholz described deeper relations with states in Central Asia as a “strategic objective for Germany”. “Exchanges between our societies have never been so close, and they are constantly growing as well, politically, economically and culturally,” Scholz was cited as saying.
The Times of Central Asia reports that the meeting’s host, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, said that the collaboration on energy played a “key role” in the relationship, adding that, “Our bilateral cooperation is built in the spirit of a strategic partnership.” He reportedly invited German companies to join in surveys for rare minerals and metals in his country, and to participate in mining lithium, which is vital to manufacturing batteries.
Radio Liberty says Presidents Sadyr Japarov of Kyrgyzstan, Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan, Serdar Berdymukhammedov of Turkmenistan, and Shavkat Mirziyoev of Uzbekistan also stressed the importance of cooperation with Germany, but not all agree with Scholz on recognition of the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan, which he said came to power “illegally.”
The Tajik president’s official website says President Emomali Rahmon, speaking at the meeting, expressed confidence that “the continuation of our dialogue between Central Asia and Germany will contribute to joint efforts to determine promising directions of multilateral cooperation and achieve practical results.”
Tajik leader reportedly stated that Tajikistan is ready to continue close cooperation with its partners to achieve the goal of establishing a strategic partnership between Central Asia and Germany.
It was emphasized that continuous promotion of trade and economic cooperation and investment between the countries should become one of the main priorities.
He spoke about Tajikistan's hydropower potential, for the production of “green energy”, Tajikistan's initiatives in solving global issues, such as climate change and its effects, melting glaciers, droughts, floods and other problems of the international community, and in this regard, considered it important to expand cooperation with partners, including Germany.
Effective cooperation in order to ensure security and stability in the region and the world was also called very important.
The President of Tajikistan also drew the attention of the Heads of State to the issue of development of cooperation in cultural and humanitarian sectors, education and training of personnel for various sectors of the economy.
Olaf Scholz last met with the Central Asian leaders at their first summit with Germany held in Berlin in September 2023 amid efforts to counter Russian influence in the region.
