USA and Central Asia had talks on a wide range of cooperation issues in the C5+1 format
From 20 to 23 July 2018, a series of meetings under C5+1 working groups on environment, economy and security took place in Almaty and Tashkent.
High-level delegations of five Central Asian countries took part in the meetings. The USA side was represented by assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs Manisha Singh, acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Central Asia Henry Ensher.
Within the framework of the meetings in Almaty, such topics of C5+1 cooperation as the development of transport corridors, increasing the competitiveness of business, alternative energy, ways of adaptation to climate change, as well as promising areas of further cooperation were discussed.
One of the key events of the talks was introduction of the new regional project on creation of the Central Asian Regional Electricity Market (CAREM).
USAID Deputy Assistant Administrator for Asia Javier Piedra also briefed participants on current C5+1 economic projects and identified opportunities for future engagement.
The parties also decided to include tourism in the cooperation agenda.
On 23 July, the US-Central Asian dialogue continued in the Uzbek capital at a meeting of the Working Group on security.
Regional efforts to combat terrorism, cooperation in border security, efforts to counter extremism and preventing the spread of radical ideologies through the involvement of the general public became the main areas of exchange of views in Tashkent.
The assessment of the situation in Afghanistan was also given. In this connection, the parties discussed the possibilities of cooperation in peace settlement in Afghanistan. As it was noted, stable and sustainable development in Central Asia is inseparably linked to the peace and stability in neighboring Afghanistan.
The C5+1 is the primary regional diplomatic platform through which the United States and the five Central Asian republics cooperate to advance economic integration, mitigate environmental vulnerabilities, and strengthen security cooperation.
