By AFP – Agence France Presse
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Central Asian states on Tuesday urged Germany to invest in their energy and transport sectors, and to help create links with Europe that bypass Russia.
The five landlocked countries in a region rich in natural resources want to implement transport links to Europe via the Caspian Sea, thus circumventing both Russia and Iran, which have been hit by Western sanctions.
“The further integration of transport and logistics systems between Central Asia and Europe is an urgent task,” said Kazakh leader Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, head of the region’s largest economy, during a three-day visit by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Following up on a first “5+1” summit organised between one European leader and the presidents of the five Central Asian former Soviet republics a year ago, Scholz made the first trip to the region by a German chancellor in more than 20 years.
In recent months, the Central Asian states have been pushing for the creation of a transport corridor through the Caspian Sea, which lies between Azerbaijan in the southwest and the Central Asian states of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to the northeast and southeast respectively.
“We are counting on Germany’s help to connect this route to the trans-European transport network,” said Tokayev.
Beyond the export of gas, oil and rare earths, the prospect of sending sustainable energy such as hydrogen, with its limited environmental impact, from Central Asia to Europe via the Caspian Sea is gaining momentum.
“We invite German partners to participate in this strategic project,” said Tokayev.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, dozens of leaders have visited a region where post-Soviet era Russian power is now contested.
“Central Asia’s role is growing at the international level,” said Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov.
“Our region has everything it needs to develop: natural resources, rare earths, enormous green energy potential” but “climate change is a serious threat for Central Asia,” said Japarov, who called for German cooperation in the environmental sphere.
The summit also addressed the situation in neighbouring Afghanistan amid a softening of the diplomatic stance of the Central Asian republics towards the Taliban and a stepping up of economic contact with Kabul.
The region’s states have “the desire to interact with Germany and other European partners to implement joint projects involving this country in regional economic cooperation,” said Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
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