The heads of the C6 states, comprising the five Central Asian nations and Azerbaijan, said all the right things at their most recent conclave concerning a desire for more economic cooperation. All eyes will now be on them to give practical meaning to their words.

Participants at the 8th Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia and Azerbaijan, were unanimous on October 8 in articulating needs for closer coordination in such areas as trade, transport and regional security, according to a joint statement issued after the meeting.

Perhaps most significant, the host nation, Turkmenistan, affirmed its readiness to break out of its historically isolationist shell and join neighbouring states in building the infrastructure needed to expand trade and promote the digitalisation of regional economies. Given Turkmenistan’s traditional policy of neutrality, Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedov’s welcoming address was unusually jargon-free and contained an extraordinary (for Ashgabat) call for a unified approach in addressing key issues.

Berdimuhamedov indicated that a top diplomatic priority for Turkmenistan would be fulfilling the “potential of the six-party partnership, preserving and strengthening the spirit of solidarity, unity and mutual support.”

He also expressed hope that the consultative meeting would “inject new momentum into trade, economic and investment cooperation, and to pool efforts to transform Central Asia and Azerbaijan into key and indispensable participants in … transport, logistics, energy and industrial corridors.”

The meeting’s joint statement made it clear that construction of a trans-Caspian pipeline, long stalled by a variety of factors, is now high on the C6 agenda. Ashgabat, which has historically held a fickle position on the pipeline, signalled that it is fully on board with the project 

Berdimuhamedov issued a call for “maximum substance to be given to negotiations and actions to create transport and logistics connectivity,” adding that “the Central Asia–Caspian Sea–South Caucasus–Europe corridor is expected to play a key role here.”

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev was among those urging the creation of institutions and value chains to address trade and development challenges. “We need a flexible and transparent format in which strong, sovereign and independent states cooperate on the basis of mutual respect, trust and pragmatism,” he said. “We have already set ambitious goals for increasing mutual trade and investment. Now it is necessary to determine what will drive this growth.”

Among the ideas that Mirziyoyev floated was the creation of a Regional Atlas of In-Demand Professions and Skills to help governments ensure the region’s available labour pool is trained up to meet development needs in such sectors as mining, tourism and AI/IT.

The issue of conserving dwindling regional water resources received a lot of attention during the meeting. Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev indicated that hitting the economic development targets of each C6 state depends heavily on the countries’ ability to jointly ensure adequate water supplies for industrial and household use.

“We face the task of developing new approaches to the management of transboundary water resources,” Tokayev told his fellow leaders. “The adoption of a Central Asian Framework Convention on Water Use could serve as a starting point for shaping a new regional architecture of cooperation. This draft document is already under consideration by all parties.”

Mirziyoyev, meanwhile, proposed the establishment of a standing body to facilitate “dialogue with Afghanistan on water resource use, taking into account the interests of all countries in the region.”

Those and other ideas were not reflected in the joint statement, which was largely limited to aspirational concepts. Whether C6 leaders adopt a framework water convention or establish a regional mechanism to raise professional standards before the next C6 gathering in 2027 will provide a gauge of their determination to move beyond rhetoric and work toward a regional grouping of states. 

This article first appeared on Eurasianet here.