The flags of the five Central Asian countries and Azerbaijan have once again gathered, and a negotiation on the fate of the inland hinterland has begun. From the cross-border railway connecting the Eurasian corridor, to the water resources convention breaking the survival dilemma, and to the AI partnership plan lighting up the digital future - regional collaboration is accelerating from vision to reality.

Economy, Trade, and Connectivity

On October 8, 2026, Kazakhstani President Tokayev attended the 8th Central Asian and Azerbaijani Leaders' Consultative Meeting in Turkmenistan and delivered a speech. He pointed out that the current intra regional trade volume is about 13 billion US dollars, and proposed that countries introduce a joint action plan to increase the intra regional trade volume to 20 billion US dollars. At the same time, Kazakhstan is promoting the construction of multiple cross-border railways and the Aral Sea Caspian Sea transportation mainline, strengthening the transit capacity of the intermediate corridor, connecting with relevant regional transportation initiatives, and unleashing the potential of Eurasian transit freight.

Key areas of cooperation

In response to the core challenge of cross-border water scarcity in the region, Tokayev advocates for all parties to review and promote the introduction of the Central Asian Framework Convention on Water Resources Utilization, and jointly promote the implementation of global water governance initiatives at the United Nations level. In the field of artificial intelligence, relying on the AI ecosystem and supercomputing platform already established in Kazakhstan, it is proposed to establish a Central Asian AI partnership and jointly formulate a regional declaration on the responsible use of AI. Keywords: regional trade, connectivity, Central Asian cooperation

Improving the Quality of Safety Humanities and Mechanisms

Tokayev emphasized the need to work together to address new security threats such as terrorism and cross-border crime, and to implement the regional security cooperation arrangements that have been passed. In the field of humanities, it is proposed to establish a regional shared media platform, hold the "Central Asia - Land of Charity" Youth Volunteer Forum next year, and unify the regional cultural, sports, and tourism activity calendar. Finally, he pointed out that the implementation rate of over 200 cooperation initiatives in the past was relatively low, and called on all parties to sort out existing projects and improve the effectiveness of the negotiation mechanism. After this meeting, the leaders of the participating countries jointly signed a joint statement.Editor/Gong Ziwei