“Together we want to use and develop the potential in the field of raw materials,” Scholz said, according to his office, a desire she has already expressed. France and the United Kingdom in recent months.
Germany, which has been heavily dependent on Russian energy sources, has been looking for alternatives since Russian-Ukrainian war It already imports its oil from Kazakhstan.
The Uzbek presidency stated that “the contribution of German companies to the development of deposits rich in important minerals, their processing (…) and their export to Germany and third countries is one of the priorities of the mutually beneficial partnership between Uzbekistan and Germany.”
The source explained that this industrial cooperation also includes “the fields of chemical industry and green energy.”
The former Soviet Central Asian republics (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan) are of interest to the European Union, as well as China, Turkey and Iran, who are competing with Russia, the former guardian of this region rich in natural resources and located on a vital transport route between Asia and Europe.
In addition to exporting gas, oil and rare metals, the potential for transporting sustainable energy such as hydrogen – with limited environmental impact – from Central Asia to Europe via the Caspian Sea is growing but requires huge financing.
The German Chancellor stressed the need to “not use trade exchanges (between Germany and Uzbekistan) to circumvent international rules,” as the West suspects that Central Asian countries are re-exporting sanctioned goods to Russia.
In addition, Human Rights Watch called on the German Chancellor to “focus on improving human rights in Central Asia, which is vital in itself but also key to achieving the goals of this emerging partnership,” while the governments in this region are considered authoritarian.
On Tuesday, the German Chancellor will participate in the “5+1” summit with the leaders of the Central Asian countries, a year after a similar summit was held in Berlin, the first for a member state of the European Union.
