According to the ministry, the meeting is held in compliance with the Japanese government's decision to develop bilateral relations with Central Asian countries and cooperation with the region as a whole.
Uzbek President Islam Karimov's initiative to form the Organization of Central Asian Cooperation, the Central Asian common market and to elaborate a concept of regional consortiums proves that Uzbekistan comes out for close cooperation and integration in Central Asia, the Foreign Ministry stressed. "Therefore, Uzbekistan welcomes and supports the Japanese government's idea to launch partnership dialogue between Central Asian countries and Japan," the ministry said.
The Uzbek Foreign Ministry believes that Japan's rich experience in the development of bilateral and multilateral relations with the European Union and ASEAN can be used in the formation of a common integration space, political and economic climate in Central Asia.
"The development of export infrastructure and implementation of communications and energy projects, linking the region with export infrastructure of South Asia and the Middle East, are important cooperation trends in the Japan-Central Asia format," Uzbekistan's Foreign Ministry noted.
According to the ministry, the use of the Japanese experience in the formation of legal bases of the common Central Asian market and establishment of regional consortiums as well ass joint attraction in the region's economic potential in Afghanistan's restoration and gradual involvement of this country in regional integration processes can promote stability and security in central Asia as a whole.
