3) establishment of a regional center for growing seedlings of desert and forage plants,
as well as cross-border protected natural areas in the Aral sea region.
The practical implementation of all the above-mentioned initiatives of the Republic of
Uzbekistan will undoubtedly become a powerful impetus for the sustainable development of
our entire Central Asian region.
Dear participants of the round table,
As the analysis shows, Uzbekistan's initiatives have become a timely and effective
response to the long-overdue request for regional rapprochement, restoration of trust and
mutual understanding, as well as a prompt solution to the accumulated problematic issues
based on reasonable compromises. The intensification of cooperation between the Central
Asian countries has made it possible to change the political atmosphere in the region, laying
the foundations for effective regional cooperation. In this regard, I would like to note that a
"strategic window of opportunity” is opening in the relations between the countries of Central
Asia and Germany.
Since independence, close and partnership relations have linked the CA countries and
Germany. As already noted, during the EU presidency in 2007, Germany initiated a "new
partnership Strategy" between the European Union and the Central Asian countries, the
adoption of which allowed to raise the cooperation between the Central Asian and the EU to a
new higher level. The visit of the current President of Germany, Frank-Walter Stein Meier, to
Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan in March 2016 gave an additional impetus to the
development of cooperation between the States of the region and Germany.
In particular, according to the Federal statistical office of Germany, in the first half of
2018, the volume of trade between Central Asia and Germany amounted to 3.4 billion dollars,
which shows an increase of 11.5% compared to the same period of the previous year.
We highly appreciate the efforts and assistance of Germany to the countries of Central
Asia in the spheres of politics, economy and education. The German society for international
cooperation assists in the improvement and modernization of the legal sphere, as well as in
the implementation of large-scale economic reforms in the Central Asian States. There are
more than 300 German companies ("Siemens", "Daimler-Chrysler", "Volkswagen", "MAN",
"Bosch", "Henkel", "Thyssen-Krupp", "Knauf", "Bayer", "BASF", "SUBWAY", "Claas") in the region,
which contribute to the development of the economy of the Central Asian States.
Today, in Tashkent and Almaty successfully operates the Goethe Institute, and in Bishkek
and Dushanbe – German language Centers, in Almaty – Kazakh-German University, which have
a positive impact on the development of education and training in the region. Every year,
Germany allocates more than a thousand educational grants for citizens of Central Asian
States.
The representative offices of the Konrad Adenauer and Ebert Foundation played a special
role in the development of cooperation between the CA countries and Germany. In turn,
Germany also provides assistance to Central Asian countries in the management of water
resources through various programmes.
At the same time, the potential of bilateral cooperation between the countries of Central
Asia and Germany remains completely untapped. Taking into account the emerging positive
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