The Japanese government plans to hold a meeting of foreign ministers with five Central Asian countries in Tokyo in the second half of December. This was reported by the Kyodo news agency, citing Japanese diplomatic sources, on Sunday.

Central Asia, connecting Europe, the Middle East and Asia, is considered a geopolitically important region rich in natural resources, Kyodo notes, adding also that the region borders with China and Russia, taking into account which Japan intends to strengthen relations with the Central Asian countries.

The six–party format of meetings of the Foreign Ministers – Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan - appeared in 2004. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the five countries and Japan. The last such meeting took place in an online format in April of this year, but there have been no face-to-face meetings since May 2019.

In late September – early October, a Turkmen delegation headed by Chairman of the upper house of the Turkmen Parliament Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov visited Tokyo and held talks.

At the end of December, Tokyo will also host the 14th meeting of the Turkmen-Japanese committee for economic cooperation, the agenda of which will include new proposals to expand contacts with leading Japanese banks and companies.

ORIENT news