German Chancellor will visit Central Asia on Sept. 15-17

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will travel to Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan this month on his first trip to Central Asia, the German government said on Friday. Scholz will hold bilateral and foreign policy talks with leaders there and attend a Central Asia-Germany summit in Kazakhstan on the last day of his Sept. 15-17 trip, government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said. A large, high-level business delegation will accompany the chancellor, he said. The summit in Kazakhstan, dubbed Z5+1, followed a similar meeting in Berlin last year that resulted in a “strategic regional partnership,” according to Hebestreit. “The Chancellor's trip next week will therefore also serve to breathe life into this regional partnership,” the spokesman said. European countries are increasing their engagement with Central Asia as they seek to boost trade and collaborate on issues such as security and climate change in a tense geopolitical environment. In April, David Cameron, who was then Britain’s foreign secretary, traveled to Central Asia, where he talked about the importance of engaging and competing in a region adjacent to China, Russia, Afghanistan and Iran. French President Emmanuel Macron visited Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan last year, become the first leader from France to visit the Central Asian region since 1994.