The C6 has rebuilt political trust since 2018. Turning more than 200 regional initiatives into results now depends on permanent bodies with clear mandates. Sobir Kurbanov. Photo credit: Personal archive When the leaders of Central Asia and Azerbaijan met in Avaza, Turkmenistan, on Oct.
8, it was the first Consultative Meeting of Heads of State with Azerbaijan as a full participant. The wider format links Central Asia with the South Caucasus and, through it, with European markets. Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev used the summit to raise a practical question.
He noted that more than 200 initiatives have been put forward since 2018, while only a small share has been implemented, and proposed that the foreign ministries take inventory of them. The proposal leads to a broader question about how the region can deliver on its commitments without permanent institutions to carry them out.
Uzbekistan’s opening in 2016 started the return of regional trust After the Soviet collapse, the five republics inherited integrated production chains and a common infrastructure network. Over the following decades, closed borders and unresolved territorial disputes pulled them apart.
The Ferghana Valley, the region’s most densely populated area, suffered most from border restrictions and periodic violent clashes. Change began in 2016, when President Shavkat Mirziyoyev opened Uzbekistan’s economy and borders. The Consultative Meetings, launched in Astana in 2018, then became the main platform for rebuilding confidence among the region’s leaders.
Russia’s war in Ukraine and growing uncertainty over northern trade routes later raised interest in southern and trans-Caspian connectivity. Border settlements have opened the Ferghana Valley to cooperation On March 13, 2025, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon signed a border treaty after armed clashes in 2021 and 2022.
On March 31, the presidents of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan met in Khujand. They signed a treaty fixing the junction point of their three borders, along with the Khujand Declaration of Eternal Friendship. The second Ferghana Peace Forum, held in Guliston, Tajikistan, on Sept.
28-29, brought together the governors of the three border provinces. A valley once known for border conflict is becoming a space for cross-border trade and joint development. Trade and travel data show the gains of renewed trust In November 2025, Mirziyoyev reported that intraregional trade had doubled over eight years to about $11 billion and that mutual investment had grown 5.6 times.
Uzbekistan’s trade with its neighbors tripled from $2.4 billion in 2016 to $7.2 billion in 2024, and the number of joint enterprises passed 1,800.