On 11 February 2026, Foreign Minister Wadephul will be receiving his counterparts from the Central Asian states. In addition, there will be an economic forum that will be attended by nearly 30 German business representatives. It is being organised together with the German Eastern Business Association. Prior to these meetings, the Federal President will receive the Central Asian Foreign Ministers at Schloss Bellevue. The Foreign Ministers meeting dovetails with the Team Europe approach of the European Union with regard to Central Asia.

Central Asia – a partner of choice for Germany

The meeting will focus on further strengthening political and economic relations between Germany, the European Union and Central Asia. In view of geopolitical developments with respect to energy and resource security, the region is becoming ever more strategically significant for Europe. The aim is to make reliable offers to Central Asian states and to deepen our partnership, also bearing in mind the region’s dependencies on Russia.

Since 2023, Germany has maintained a Strategic Regional Partnership with the countries of Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan). It comprises four main areas of cooperation: (1) the business sector, energy and natural resources; (2) regional cooperation and resilience; (3) climate and the environment; (4) people-to-people contacts between citizens. Following the summits of 2023 in Berlin and of 2024 in Astana, the Z5+1 (Central Asia and Germany) meeting picks up where these productive discussions left off. The focus is on the business sector, energy, raw materials, connectivity, security and regional cooperation. The meeting will also help to prepare for the next summit.

Team Europe – the EU Special Representative for Central Asia is also participating

The fact that EU Special Representative for Central Asia Eduards Stiprais is attending the meeting underscores Germany’s Team Europe approach. Germany expressly considers its engagement in the region as being part of an overall EU strategy (among other things, the EU’s strategy on Central Asia was endorsed during Germany’s EU Council Presidency in 2007 and was updated in 2019). The shared goal is to strengthen political, economic and infrastructure ties between Central Asia and Europe. The EU-Central Asia summit of 4 April 2025 in Samarkand (Uzbekistan) made progress in this respect. The EU is placing special emphasis on the issue of connectivity, so that transport and logistic routes between Central Asia and Europe can be expanded step by step.

The economic forum – strengthening investment, trade and added value in and with Central Asia

German companies have for years been active in Central Asia and thus contribute investment, added value and jobs to the region. In Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan alone, there are nearly 80 joint projects with an overall investment volume of approximately four billion euro. Germany is Central Asia’s most important trading partner in the European Union.