As part of the Fifth Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia in Dushanbe, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev put forward several relevant initiatives designed to develop the region further. Among them is a proposal to establish an Economic Council of Central Asian States.

This mechanism is aimed at enhancing practical interaction in trade and economic cooperation, increasing the level of trade turnover, strengthening export opportunities, increasing attractiveness for investment, and stimulating the innovative development of countries in the region.

One of the evidence of the relevance of this initiative was the holding on the eve of the Consultative Meeting of the Economic Forum of the States of Central Asia on “Digital Economy, Digital Trade and Innovation”.

The participants discussed issues of exchange of experience and prospects for cooperation in the digital economy, implementation of the e-government system, e-commerce, and digitalization of public services and innovations.

The activities of the new format proposed by the President of Uzbekistan can be adopted by analogy with the work of the Business Council of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, whose member states are the Central Asian countries.

In this regard, the initiative of the Leader of Uzbekistan to establish the Economic Council of Central Asian States opens up new opportunities for further strengthening trade and economic interaction between the countries of the region, attracting more investment, using innovative technologies, as well as further integration into regional and global financial mechanisms.

Azizkhan Nazirov,

Chief Researcher at IICA