Tokyo, Japan – On the 20th of this month, Japan held a high-level summit with five Central Asian countries: Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan. The aim was to strengthen economic and logistical cooperation. During the summit, the Tokyo Declaration was adopted, outlining the expansion of cooperation along the Caspian Sea route.
Local media outlets, including Japan’s public broadcaster NHK, reported that the summit was held in Tokyo within the framework of the Central Asia-Japan Dialogue (CA+JAD). This framework began as a ministerial dialogue mechanism in 2004 before being elevated to the summit level for the first time.
Japanese Prime Minister Sana Takaichi stated that Central Asia is gaining increasing importance as a “trade route connecting Asia and Europe.” She affirmed her country’s commitment to implementing joint projects with the private sector, with a total value of up to 3 trillion yen over the next five years.
The Tokyo Declaration included an agreement to strengthen cooperation along the Caspian Sea corridor, which has emerged as a key logistics hub following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It also included an agreement to expand cooperation in natural gas and vital minerals supply chains, and to establish a cooperative partnership in artificial intelligence.
