First European Union-Central Asia summit to be held in Samarkand

On April 3-4, 2025, Samarkand will host the first European Union-Central Asia summit. This is reported by the press service of the EU Delegation to Uzbekistan.

The event will be held under the chairmanship of the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev. The summit will be attended by the following leaders: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistanas well as high-level EU representatives, including President of the European Council Antonio Costa and Head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.

The summit will be an important platform for discussing strategic cooperation between the EU and Central Asian countries. According to representatives of the European Union, Brussels seeks to strengthen ties with the region in the areas of transport, digital technologies, trade in strategic raw materials, economy, security and energy.

Antonio Costa stressed the importance of partnership:

"We live in a world of chaos and fragmentation, where the only way forward for the EU is to strengthen partnerships for peace and prosperity. In a multipolar world, more active cooperation is needed. The first EU-Central Asia Summit will strengthen our commitment to work together for peace, security and sustainable development."

Earlier, the summit was planned to be held in the spring of 2024, but it was postponed due to the elections to the European Parliament and the change of the EU leadership.

On the eve of the summit on March 4, Ashgabat will host ministerial meetingdedicated to its preparation.

The European Union is the second largest trading partner of Central Asiaas well as the largest investor in the region-it accounts for more than 40% of all investments. Brussels has already agreed on Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreements (EPCA) with all countries in the region, with the exception of Turkmenistan.