Astana (TDI): Italy’s Prime Minister’s Central Asia visit has come to and end with the convening of the first-ever Central Asia–Italy Summit. After separate meetings with Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan’s Heads of state, Italy’s Meloni sat down with all five states at the Summit.
Interestingly, Italy’s intent to forge and strengthen partnerships with Central Asian States has not created any mistrust in Central Asia’s traditional partners – Russia and China.
Forged on principles of neutrality and economic win-win, the Italy-Central Asia Summit has set a strong precedence for inter-continental collaboration, and the need for diversifying economic relations.
The aim of the Summit was clear: fostering strategic partnerships, economic cooperation, and multilateral dialogue.
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This format aligns with other regional engagement mechanisms such as the C5+1 (U.S.–Central Asia), Central Asia–Germany, and Central Asia–EU platforms, reflecting Central Asia’s growing geopolitical relevance.
The summit reflects Italy’s non-confrontational, economically focused approach to international diplomacy. For Central Asia, a region that wants to preserve its neutrality and does not want to step into any great power games, Italy’s neutrality and economic pragmatism make it an attractive partner for all five countries of the region.
With this Summit, Italy has emerged as the pioneer EU country that has forged structured cooperation with Central Asia. The Summit also reflects on Central Asia’s seriousness to position itself as a trustworthy economic partner.
The agreements and MoUs concluded at the Summit, in addition to the joint statement, clearly lay out the areas both Italy and Central Asian countries are interested in. In short, support for SMEs, green energy, water security, and infrastructure.
Read More: Meloni’s Historic Samarkand Visit Bolsters Italy–Uzbekistan Partnership
To strengthen this structured dialogue and to work toward its implementation, Italy will host the Fourth Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Spring 2026, in addition to Technical roundtables on water and energy, planned for 2026–2027.
Meanwhile Kyrgyzstan has offered to host the next Central Asia–Italy Summit in 2027. Having caught Italy’s interest, Central Asia has finally come out of the symbolic role where it has frequently been referred to as geo-strategically significant but nothing substantial came out of it.
The Italy-Central Asia Summit confirms the region’s transformation from a peripheral region to a geostrategic bridge, and the shared desire for balanced partnerships focused on sustainability, education, and technological modernization.
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