TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsASEAN needs to closely watch, Central Asia is rising
Central Asia rarely dominates the narrative of Southeast Asia’s foreign policy, indeed, no leader from a major ASEAN player has visited the region in the past decade.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Asian leaders (from left to right) Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedov and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev pose for a picture on June 17 at the China-Central Asia Summit in Astana. (Reuters/Kyrgyz Presidential Press Service/Sultan Dosaliev)
Y
ou may have missed it, but when leaders of Central Asian nations wrapped up their summit in Uzbekistan’s capital, Tashkent, last week, the mineral-rich region once again demonstrated its potential to become the next global economic giant.
New multi-billion-dollar deals on joint infrastructure projects and trade were finalized, along with a renewed commitment to create a regional bloc dubbed the "Community of Central Asia." Yet, this display of economic and political solidarity received little attention from mainstream media in Southeast Asia.
Often called the "Silk Road" nations, a reference to their historic role as trading hubs between ancient China and Europe, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan have been emerging silently as a new hub for energy, digitalization and manufacturing. The region has averaged economic growth exceeding 5 percent in recent years.
Although the total value of the new deals was not disclosed, the summit noted that intra-regional trade reached US$10.7 billion in 2024, with total investment volume in Central Asia up by 17 percent from the previous year. For a region once characterized by having among the lowest levels of intra-regional trade, the Tashkent Summit and its flurry of dealmaking are indeed noteworthy.
Geopolitically, Central Asia has assumed a more influential role, with the United States showing increased interest following last month’s meeting between US President Donald Trump and Central Asian leaders in Washington. This meeting came shortly after China hosted a top Central Asian delegation in Urumqi for their annual business forum, where officials reiterated Beijing’s plan to create more "development opportunities" for the region.
After a weather-related delay earlier this year, the Japanese government is moving forward with plans to hold its first-ever summit with Central Asian leaders. Scheduled to take place in Tokyo as early as mid-December, the event marks a significant upgrade in relations, which have been limited to ministerial dialogues for two decades.
For ASEAN, closer engagement with Central Asia is not merely about short-term gains, it is a strategic play for economic diversification and alliance expansion.
