“C5+1” ministerial meeting held in New York
Before the Head of State’s visit to the United States in order to attend the 74th session of the UN General Assembly, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Mukhtar Tleuberdi took part in the Ministerial Meeting of the “C5 + 1” dialogue, the Strategy2050.kz Information Agency refers to the press service of the MFA RK.
The meeting was also attended by US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, heads of the Foreign Affairs Ministries of the Kyrgyz Republic Chingiz Aidarbekov, Tajikistan Sirojiddin Mukhriddin, Uzbekistan Abdulaziz Kamilov and Ambassador of Turkmenistan to the USA Mered Orazov.
The parties discussed ways to expand trade and investment ties, as well as integration processes and joint efforts to respond to the challenges in Central Asia.
M. Tleuberdi emphasized that the “C5 + 1” platform is becoming an effective means of enhancing economic cooperation within Central Asia and attracting US resources to develop the region’s transit infrastructure, work to preserve the environment, and strengthen regional security and stability.
The head of the Kazakhstani Foreign Ministry emphasized the importance of continuing work within the framework of the “C5 + 1” dialogue on attracting US investment and technology to Central Asia, having noted that progress on the “C5 + 1” platform should transmit a signal to the business communities of the United States and Central Asia.
US Secretary of State M. Pompeo noted that Central Asia is an example for the whole world to return citizens from war zones. The US Secretary of State emphasized the importance of the economic partnership of Central Asian countries and noted the prospects for cooperation between the region and the United States in the field of infrastructure development, including through the funds of the US International Development Finance Corporation.
As one of the factors for establishing stability and sustainable growth in the region, M. Pompeo drew attention to the need to strengthen cooperation between Central Asian countries and Afghanistan.
The “C5 + 1” format is a multilateral mechanism of interaction between the five countries of Central Asia and the United States. An inaugural meeting of the heads of the Foreign Affairs Ministries of the six countries was held in September 2015 on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
The last high-level meeting with the participation of the Central Asian Foreign Ministers and US Deputy Secretary of State David Hale took place in Nur-Sultan exactly a month ago.
