The event was chaired by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. The summit was also attended by the President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov, the President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, and the President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov.
The agenda focused on expanding cooperation between Central Asian countries and Japan in priority areas such as the green economy and sustainable development, strengthening connectivity and regional cooperation, and developing human capital.
In his address, President Mirziyoyev recalled that Japan had initiated the “Central Asia Plus” dialogue 20 years ago, noting that trade and cultural ties dating back to the era of the Great Silk Road, along with shared traditions and values, provide a solid foundation for deepening cooperation. He highly praised Japan’s contribution to the region’s socio-economic development, modernization of infrastructure, industry and the energy base, as well as to science, education, and human resources development.
The Uzbek leader put forward a series of initiatives to advance cooperation within the Central Asia + Japan format. In particular, he proposed holding summits at the level of heads of state every two years and expressed Uzbekistan’s readiness to host one of the upcoming meetings.
Uzbekistan also voiced support for developing a Central Asia – Japan 2040 cooperation strategy, with the document to include concrete programs and projects to support the sustainable development of regional countries and deepen their integration into global economic processes. To generate new ideas and proposals, the importance of establishing an Experts Forum involving leading analytical institutions from participating countries was emphasized, with a proposal to hold its first meeting in Tashkent next year.
On the economic front, support was expressed for expanding the role of Japanese financial institutions in backing trade, economic, and investment projects. The idea of establishing an investment fund for the development of Central Asia’s infrastructure and industry was also proposed. This could serve as a basis for launching a “Quality Infrastructure” program and for creating a Central Asian network of Japanese technoparks as a regional platform for industrial cooperation, localization, and technology transfer.
Highlighting that digital transformation is becoming a decisive factor for economic growth and sustainability, President Mirziyoyev proposed establishing a Central Asia – Japan digital hub as a multilateral cooperation platform in digital solutions, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, cybersecurity, and the innovative economy.
