The Japanese government will provide additional economic support to Central Asia. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is expected to formally announce the package of proposals at the Japan-Central Asia summit. The event, attended by leaders of Central Asian countries, is scheduled to take place in Kazakhstan next week.

The agenda of the meeting is expected to include a discussion of the Caspian shipping route connecting Central Asia with Europe: on this front, Tokyo intends to provide “non-material assistance,” for example, by preparing digital technologies for customs clearance.

Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan will also receive support for decarbonization. Japanese companies are ready to provide technologies and loans for natural gas processing and other types of support. According to Japanese media reports, Kishida will offer Japan’s support in the production of high-value-added export goods, such as hydrogen and fertilizers made from natural gas.

Finally, Japan intends to offer Central Asian countries the opportunity to send their workers to Japanese vocational training programs, which the world's fourth-largest economy is using to address its acute labor shortage.