A growing spirit of cooperation underpinned the August 9 gathering of the leaders of all five Central Asia states, along with Caspian neighbour Azerbaijan.

“Sustainable development” was the buzzword of the day for participants of the 6th Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia, held in the Kazakh capital Astana.

“We are jointly shaping a new image of Central Asia as a region of great opportunities, looking to the future,” the gathering’s host, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, told his fellow regional leaders. “Given the combined potential of our countries, we can make a significant contribution to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Agenda.”

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev echoed those sentiments, asserting that “Central Asia is becoming a space of good-neighbourliness, mutually beneficial cooperation and sustainable development.”

The font of such cheerful rhetoric is a shared regional desire to expand trade, both within and across the region, connecting China and Western markets via the so-called Middle Corridor. Tokayev noted all Central Asian states – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan – were removing trade barriers and modernising border checkpoints to speed freight transit. “Trade, economic and investment cooperation is developing dynamically,” he said.

A US-sponsored initiative, dubbed the B5+1 process, provides a framework for improving trade flows within the region. Most efforts to ease trade barriers have, to date, occurred on a bilateral, not regional level. There has been lots of talk about speeding commerce, but action to achieve that objective has been limited, and there is lots of work still to be done, experts and observers say. Agreements have been signed, but efficient implementation remains an open question.

The highest profile trade initiative in 2024 involves a “green power plan” by Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to export solar- and wind-generated electricity across the Caspian Sea to Western markets. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev participated in the meeting, emphasising in his address to the assembly that “Azerbaijan and the countries of Central Asia are a single historical, cultural and geopolitical space of increasing strategic importance.”

This article first appeared on Eurasianet here.