Central Asia and USA discuss prospects for future cooperation
On 22 September, the high-ranking representatives of Central Asian nations and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson held a regular “C5+1” meeting in New York.
The meeting, initiated by US State Department, was attended by the foreign ministers Kairat Abdrakhmanov of Kazakhstan, Erlan Abdyldaev of Kyrgyzstan, Sirodjidin Aslov of Tajikistan, Abdulaziz Kamilov of Uzbekistan and the Permanent Representative of Turkmenistan to the United Nations Atayeva Aksoltan.
During the talks, the parties considered ways of further enhancing the cooperation and exchanged views on a regional approach to supporting Afghanistan's economic recovery.
Dialogue format between the United States and the countries of Central Asia "C5+1" was established two years ago with the aim of combining joint efforts to address common challenges in three main areas:
• Security (with the focus on countering terrorism threats);
• Economy (focused on expanding trade flows and investment partnership with the US);
• Ecology (USAID supports working out of national adaptation plans that determine major environmental risks).
At last year's meeting in Samarkand, five projects were agreed upon in these three sectors, funded by US $ 15 million appropriation from US Congress.
