ALMATY, October 21. /Dunyo IA/.  Rustam Burnashev, Professor of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the Kazakh-German University and Candidate of Philosophical Sciences, commented in an interview with Dunyo IA on the outcomes of the visit of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to Uzbekistan, which took place on October 18–20^th:

- Initial premise of the “C5+1” format meeting held in Samarkand was the thesis articulated by the U.S. Secretary of State in an interview with “Euronews”, stating that “Central Asia simply has not received the level of attention from our policymakers over the last 20 years that it deserves”.

This declares the aspiration of the Donald Trump Administration to expand cooperation with the countries of the region.

According to Marco Rubio, “the United States views its presence in the region as economic competition and an opportunity to offer Central Asian countries additional options for cooperation”. Importance of Central Asia is linked to the development of international trade, investments, and the strengthening of global supply chains.

An essential component of the visit is also the work toward developing bilateral relations between the United States and Uzbekistan. Notably, within this framework, meetings were held between the U.S. Secretary of State and President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Head of the Administration of the President of Uzbekistan Saida Mirziyoyeva, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bakhtiyor Saidov, as well as business circles representing both countries.