Washington-hosted Trans Caspian Forum highlights growing strategic role of Middle Corridor VIDEO
Washington, June 11, AZERTAC
The traditional Trans-Caspian Forum was held in Washington, the capital of the United States.
The forum, organized by the Caspian Policy Center (CPC), brought together high-ranking officials from Azerbaijan, the United States, Kazakhstan, Türkiye, and other countries, as well as regional and global leaders.
This year’s event coincided with the CPC’s 10th anniversary.
The forum was organized under the theme “Middle Corridor at a Turning Point: Developing the Next-Generation for the Trans-Caspian Region.”
Afgan Nifti, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Caspian Policy Center, said that the US is increasingly interested in the Central Asia and the Caucasus, both in the fields of energy, technology, and critical minerals. According to him, the meeting of the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia at the White House with the participation of President Donald Trump in August last year, as well as the reception of the leaders of Central Asian countries in Washington in the C5 format, demonstrate the further growth of the US strategic interest in the region and the importance it attaches to cooperation.
Addressing the forum via a video link, Erzhan Kazykhan, Special Representative of the President of Kazakhstan for Negotiations with the US, emphasized that Kazakhstan sees broad opportunities for further enhancing cooperation with the US and regional partners.
“The Middle Corridor is undergoing a profound transformation from a transportation route into a strategic geo-economic system linking Europe,” said Hikmet Hajiyev, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan and Head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration, as he addressed the annual Trans-Caspian Forum via a video link.
Hikmet Hajiyev noted that under the circumstances of escalation of conflict in the Gulf region and Middle East, the Middle Corridor gains additional significance and importance.
Javlon Vakhabov, Deputy Advisor to the President of Uzbekistan, mentioned that the existence of alternative routes that could expand the access of the entire Central Asian region to foreign markets is of great importance.
Edil Baisalov, Special Representative of the President of Kyrgyzstan for International Initiatives, highlighted the new opportunities created by the Middle Corridor for both Kyrgyzstan and the wider region.
Senator Steve Daines, a member of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, who attended the event as a special guest, stated that the United States, Central Asia, and the Caucasus countries are now closer to each other strategically.
The conference continued with panel discussions on topics such as “The Middle Corridor: Strengthening Strategic Choice and Building Secure Networks”, “Digital Sovereignty and Industrial Artificial Intelligence: Technology as the Next Vector of Development”, “Critical Minerals”, “Energy Security: The Caspian Basin in a Changing Global Market” and “Business Investments Along the Middle Corridor”.
Representatives of government agencies, experts from Azerbaijan, the US, and other countries, as well as representatives of the US business community, addressed the panel sessions and shared their perspectives in relevant fields.
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