“Check against delivery”

President Mirziyoyev,

President Costa,

Presidents,

According to Ibn Battuta, travel leaves you speechless. After his visit, he described Samarkand as the beating heart of Central Asia, a center of trade and cooperation. We are here for the first summit between Central Asia and the EU, marking a new chapter in our friendship.

Samarkand has often played a key role in world history. We are now at a turning point. While global barriers arise and investments shift, we show here that there is an alternative.

Central Asia is a region of proud, sovereign countries with rich histories and great ambitions. Your strategic location can open global trade routes. New investments will strengthen economies and forge new friendships. Europe wants to be a partner in this new chapter of your thousand-year history.

Today, we establish a Strategic Partnership between Central Asia and Europe, creating deeper connections between our regions and offering new opportunities for cooperation in energy, security, digital, and tourism.

Reliable partners are more important than ever. Our partnership is a commitment to each other. We want to explore new avenues for cooperation, starting with transport corridors.

Central Asia is a global gateway, the beating heart of Eurasia. That is why our Global Gateway investment focuses on this region. Last year, we pledged EUR 10 billion to the Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor, which halves the journey between Europe and Central Asia to 15 days. This corridor will unlock business potential and improve connections within the five Central Asian countries.

Additionally, we focus on cooperation in critical raw materials. Your region has vast resources, such as manganese, lithium, and graphite. These are essential for the global economy. Europe wants to be a partner in developing local industries, as we already do in Uzbekistan with a EUR 1.6 billion investment in the Almalyk copper mine.

Central Asia aims to be a clean energy hub, with wind in Kazakhstan, solar in Uzbekistan, and hydropower in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. We can collaborate on energy independence and advance the global energy transition.

Good partnership depends on good communication. Therefore, we are connecting schools and villages in Kazakhstan with European satellites. This year we connect 2,000 schools, next year 1,700 villages. This provides access to high-speed internet and attracts new investments.

In these four areas, we can achieve much: transport, raw materials, energy, and digital connectivity. Today, I announce a Global Gateway investment package of EUR 12 billion, a Team Europe approach that will launch a new pipeline of projects in Central Asia. This is the start of a new era in our ancient friendship.

Colleagues, these are exciting times for Europe and Central Asia. This summit opens a new chapter in our relations. Today we launch a Strategic Partnership, a commitment that we can rely on each other. We strengthen our relations through new friendships and trading networks. The best is yet to come.

Thank you for your wonderful hospitality.