Two prominent research centers in Uzbekistan and the United States plan to collaborate on joint projects.
The Washington-based Caspian Policy Center and Uzbekistan’s state-backed Institute for Strategic and Regional Studies signed a “strategic partnership agreement” and look forward to “fruitful joint work,” Caspian Policy Center CEO Efgan Nifti said on X.
Furqat Sidiqov, Uzbekistan’s ambassador to the U.S., said the agreement would help to foster ties between the two countries through research and dialogue.
Founded in 2016, the nonprofit Caspian Policy Center focuses on economic, political, energy and security issues in the Caspian region. The Uzbek institute started in 1992 under a presidential decree.
Last week, Eldor Aripov, director of the Institute for Strategic and Regional Studies, met leaders of top research groups in Washington. Among the topics they discussed were economic and other reforms in Uzbekistan that open “great opportunities for expanding the presence of American business in the Uzbek market,” the institute said.
The leaders also discussed U.S. foreign policy priorities, including in Central Asia, and noted “successful cooperation” in the so-called C5+1 talks format that includes Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and the United States, according to the institute. It said the format helped to coordinate efforts “to strengthen regional trade, develop transport and energy links, combat environmental challenges, and counter extremism.”
