A special video conference of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Central Asia + Japan Dialogue was been held on Tuesday, Turkmen Foreign ministry said in a press release.
The heads of the foreign affairs agencies of five Central Asian countries attended the meeting, which was held under the auspices of the Japanese Foreign Ministry.
As part of a constructive conversation, the high-ranking diplomats discussed regional cooperation and well-coordinated interaction between the Central Asian countries and Japan, taking into account the global spread of the novel coronavirus infection.
During the speeches, the officials noted the effectiveness of this format of diversified cooperation, based on the principles of mutual growth, solidarity and comprehensive support in key areas of mutually beneficial partnership.
Turkmen Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov expressed gratitude to the head of the Japanese Foreign Ministry for the initiative to organize the ministerial online meeting and particularly noted the timeliness of the meeting, adding that “undoubtedly, since the establishment of the Central Asia + Japan Dialogue in 2004, this format of multilateral interaction has developed significantly.”
The topic of discussions within this format has significantly expanded, which today covers issues of ensuring international and regional security, sustainable development, creating favorable conditions for effective trade-economic ties and active exchange in the cultural-humanitarian field, the Turkmen Minister noted.
Turkmen Foreign Minister underlined that in these conditions, when the world community is fighting against a novel infection, the current dialogue of the foreign ministers provides an opportunity for an exchange of views on the complex situation in the world and ways to overcome it.
The head of the Foreign Ministry of Turkmenistan also expressed special gratitude to the Japanese side for their readiness to provide a grant project in the field of healthcare within the framework of the Official Development Assistance Program of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.
The ministers also exchanged views on the agenda of the upcoming 8th meeting of the Central Asia + Japan Dialogue. The officials particularly discussed the possibilities of developing and adopting a number of documents in this area.
