German chancellor visits Central Asia
Scholz will initially be visiting Uzbekistan and then attending a summit meeting in Kazakhstan.
Berlin/Samarkand (dpa) – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has begun his trip to Central Asia. Uzbekistan will be his first port of call on Sunday. Scholz plans to conclude a number of treaties with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, including a migration agreement intended to facilitate the immigration of Uzbek skilled workers to Germany and the repatriation of Uzbeks obliged to leave the country.
On Monday Scholz will travel on to Kazakhstan, the largest and economically strongest Central Asian country, for a two-day visit. A summit meeting will be held there, attended by all five states of this region between Russia and China: Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. Germany is keen to intensify its relations with the Central Asian states. To this end, a strategic partnership focusing on business, energy, climate and the environment was already agreed in Berlin a year ago. The Central Asian countries are already important trading partners for Germany, and trade is now set to be further expanded.