The 9th meeting of Foreign Ministers in the “Central Asia + Japan” format will be held in Tokyo on 24 December 2022 at the Iikura House, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said in a press release. The meeting will be chaired by Foreign Minister of Japan Hayashi Yoshimasa.
The meeting, which will be attended by the chief diplomats of Japan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, will host a discussion on sustainable development in the region.
In addition, the ministers will consider the situation in Afghanistan and other issues on the international agenda.
It is expected that thanks to this meeting, the Central Asian countries and Japan, celebrating the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations this year, will confirm their unwavering solidarity and further strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation.
On the sidelines of the meeting, the Japanese Foreign Minister will also hold bilateral meetings with colleagues from Central Asian states, during which the sides will exchange views on fostering bilateral relations.
Japan has been preparing for this meeting for quite some time, and according to reliable sources, this meeting will chart the path to concrete partnership in all areas of mutual interest.
The “Central Asia plus Japan” Dialogue framework was established by Japan in 2004 to promote regional cooperation, viewing that such cooperation for solving the common challenges in the region is essential for the stability and development of Central Asia.
Within the framework of the six-party Dialogue, 8 meetings of foreign ministers, 15 meetings of senior officials, 11 intellectual dialogues (Tokyo Dialogue), 7 meetings of experts and 2 business dialogues have been held so far.
The ministers last met face-to-face in May 2019 in Tajikistan. ///nCa, 15 December 2022