EU-Central Asia dialogue reaches a new level as Astana hosts first regional high-level meeting
President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Japarov, President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Turkmenistan's Deputy Chair of the Cabinet of Ministers Hojamyrat Geldimyradow and President of the European Council Charles Michel attended the high-level meeting in Astana.
They reaffirmed their commitment to building a robust, diversified, forward-looking partnership underpinned by shared values and mutual interests.
Opening the meeting, Tokayev said the EU was one of the first to recognize Central Asia as «one cohesive region with deep historical and cultural affinities.»
«Over 30 years, our relations with the EU have developed significantly and have contributed to strengthening the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of the Central Asian states. Inter-regional dialogue has spread to almost all priority areas of cooperation, but the potential has not been exhausted. Today's summit is vivid evidence of our aspiration to expand further constructive interaction in political, economic, and humanitarian spheres,» said the President.
According to him, at times like these, both Central Asia and Europe «need to build bridges, not walls.»
The cooperation is notably dynamic in trade, economy, and investments. Tokayev cited the data that indicates the EU investments in Central Asia over the past ten years exceeded $120 billion, accounting for 40 percent of foreign direct investment in the region. However, the total turnover of the EU's trade with Central Asia remains low.
Central Asian exports to the EU primarily focus on commodities, mainly crude oil, gas, metals, and cotton fiber. On the other hand, EU exports are dominated by machinery and transport equipment, among other manufactured goods. Such products account for more than half of EU exports to the region.
Overall, the EU relations with Central Asia are covered in a New Central Asia Strategy signed in 2019, which focuses on three pillars - increased resilience, regional cooperation, and prosperity.
«Strong cooperation of Central Asian countries is key to the security and development of the region. Today's meeting is much more than just a policy dialogue between two regions. It's a powerful symbol of our reinforced cooperation and a strong signal of the EU's commitment to this region,» said Charles Michel.
Mirziyoyev, in turn, emphasized the substantial progress the Central Asian countries have made in forging their cooperation.
«Just six years ago, our borders with some countries in the region were closed. There was practically no mutual trade, we were looking for economic partners outside the region. There were no sustainable communications, transport connections, or active humanitarian exchanges. Today the situation has changed dramatically. We have introduced a visa-free regime and opened all border crossings. We have restored and increased the frequency of flights and land transport,» said the Uzbek leader.
Mirziyoyev, however, noted the indicators in absolute terms still need to match the significant opportunities available.
For Central Asian products to be competitive in the European market, he outlined several measures. The countries should ensure industrial goods’ compliance with high European standards and technical regulations, create effective transport and logistics corridors for optimal access to the EU markets, including through the development of the Trans-Caspian multimodal route and conduct joint marketing research to make goods from Central Asian countries recognizable and in demand by European consumers.
To address these issues, one of his proposals was to establish an EU - Central Asia economic cooperation committee at the level of the vice prime ministers.
While agreeing with his counterparts, Japarov also said Kyrgyzstan welcomes the efforts of the international community, including the EU to support the Afghan people in preventing a humanitarian disaster. He also emphasized the importance of continuing regional EU projects on border management, trade facilitation, and the fight against terrorism, drugs and smuggling.
«For its part, Kyrgyzstan, as a traditionally friendly country to Afghanistan, adhering to the principle of non-interference in internal affairs, is interested in a stable and prosperous Afghanistan. The Kyrgyz side has always made and will continue to make efforts to establish peace and stability in this country,» said Japarov.
«We expect that the political rapprochement of our regions will be followed by an increase in infrastructure projects and investments,«he said.
In their joint communique adopted after the meeting, the participants «stressed the crucial importance of developing a regional vision of and cooperation in building sustainable connectivity between Central Asia and the EU, in line with the EU Global Gateway strategy and the national transport and transit development objectives of Central Asian countries.»
Central Asian leaders also welcomed the EU’s intention to facilitate sustainable transport, logistics and digital interconnectivity development while respecting green development standards.
Kazakhstan and EU
Next year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Kazakhstan and the EU.
EU is one of the country’s largest trade and investment partners investing more than $160 billion in Kazakhstan over the last 30 years. Kazakhstan accounts for nearly 70 percent of all EU investments in Central Asia.
In 8 months of 2022, the trade between Kazakhstan and the EU increased by 43 percent, reaching $26 billion. At least, 3,000 companies with a share of European capital are operating in Kazakhstan's economy.
Tokayev noted the significant potential to expand this cooperation, saying Kazakhstan can offer more than 100 kinds of processed goods worth around $1.5 billion a year in mechanical engineering, iron and steel production, food processing and agriculture as well as food security.
«As you know, we export more than five million tons of wheat every year, including to EU countries. Last year, our food exports to Europe increased by 32 percent to more than $630 million. That is why Kazakhstan could continue supplying agricultural products and mineral fertilizers to the EU,» said Tokayev.
Kazakhstan is so far the first and the only country in Central Asia to have signed an Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with the EU. It was signed in Astana in December 2015 and entered into force in March 2020, covering 29 areas of cooperation.
«We had a timely and wide-ranging discussion on the common challenges at this critical juncture. One thing is absolutely sure: our relationship is strong and getting even stronger. It is based on trust and mutual understanding,» said Michel, who was visiting Kazakhstan for the first time, after his meeting with Tokayev.
Among the promising areas highlighted by Tokayev during the meeting with Michel was the transportation of essential raw materials, green energy and transport in the context of developing international transport routes to ensure a global supply chain for goods.
During Michel’s visit, the sides have agreed on a memorandum of understanding on a strategic partnership on sustainable raw materials, batteries and hydrogen, to be signed soon.
«We are also looking to conclude the horizontal air services agreement, which should help to boost flights and people-to-people contacts. I look forward to the signing of the financing agreement on the bilateral cooperation facility, which should help the implementation of our Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement,» said Charles Michel.
Green agenda
Green energy was indeed the highlight of the talks between Tokayev and Michael. The two were presented a project to create a center for the production and distribution of green hydrogen in the Mangistau region. The planned energy complex will be implemented by Svevind company, one of the renewable energy leaders in Europe.
Svevind plans to set up green hydrogen production in the Mangistau region with an annual capacity of 2 million tons. The project involves the construction and operation of a desalination plant with a capacity of 255,000 cubic meters per day, a 40 GW renewable energy station (wind, sun) and the production of 20 GW of electrolyzed water mainly for export or domestic consumption.
«Your country is a bridge between Europe and Asia, and Central Asia is an increasingly important region in its own right. The more your countries cooperate, the stronger the region will be. Recent global events have brought the EU and Central Asia closer to each other. Our close cooperation is even more important now than ever,» said European Council President Charles Michel, who was visiting Kazakhstan for the first time, after his meeting with Tokayev.
He emphasized Kazakhstan is a crucial partner for the EU and an important player on the international stage and in the region.
Top officials from EU and Central Asian countries are expected to reconvene again in November for the EU-Central Asia Sustainable Connectivity Conference in Samarkand. At this conference, they are expected to discuss how to increase the capacity of the Middle Corridor, and present two Global Gateway initiatives, on water, energy and climate change and on digital connectivity.
Written by Assel Satubaldina