US to allocate $15 mln for implementation of five projects in Central Asia

The US intends to start the implementation of joint projects with the five Central Asian countries, members of the format "C5 + 1" - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. This interaction has become one of the key themes of the talks held last Wednesday in Washington between the foreign ministers of these countries and the United States Secretary of State John Kerry, TASS reports.

In his opening remarks before the meeting the head of the State Department recalled the first such meeting, held in Samarkand in November 2015. "This discussion has shown that our relations go beyond cooperation at the government level, it also includes a partnership between American business and economic sectors of all the countries represented here. Today, we hope to make further progress with the help of new regional initiatives in the field of counter-terrorism, trade and investment, economic development and clean energy," he said.

"To help these efforts materialize, I declare that the United States will invest $15 million in this initiative in order to achieve the start as quickly and efficiently as possible," John Kerry said.

According to information of the State Department, one of the areas will be to establish a dialogue with the Global Counterterrorism Forum in order to stop the movement of members of extremist groups between the countries and to prevent the radicalization of Central Asians. It is planned to involve "representatives of authorities and experts" to discuss methods to counter this threat with the use of available expertise.

A separate project aims to expand the export flow to the region. A significant role here will play working with business, as well as with local authorities in order to create conditions for freer trade. In this regard, the United States intends to contribute to reduce of the cost and time of delivery of goods.

In addition, countries focus efforts on the development of renewable energy sources. The United States is committed to provide technical assistance and share its international experience in this field. Special attention will be paid to adaptation of the region to climate change.