00:00U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has described Uzbekistan and its Central Asian neighbors as increasingly important partners for
00:07Washington.
00:08His visit to the region reflects a broader effort by the United States to strengthen long-term diplomatic and economic
00:15ties with trade, investment, energy and critical minerals high on the agenda.
00:19With more than 200 American business representatives accompanying Rubio to Somerkan, Washington is signaling that Central Asia is becoming a
00:28more significant part of its strategic priorities.
00:31Well, I think we'll have some concrete deals to announce.
00:34I mean, companies that are going to be doing business here, that are being welcomed here and that are excited
00:38about doing business here.
00:39So we'll have those announcements at the end of the forum.
00:42I think that's very positive for both countries.
00:44And I also think that's just the foundation that we intend to build on.
00:47We want to do more. This is not the end. This is the beginning.
00:50And so we're excited about it.
00:52This is a part of the world that, frankly, has not gotten a tremendous amount.
00:55Central Asia has just not gotten the level of attention from our policymakers over the last 20 years that it
01:00deserves.
01:01But that's changing. That's why we're here now.
01:03That's why we had the meeting with the leaders and the president last year.
01:07And that's why I encourage more congressional delegations to come and visit.
01:12And ultimately why I hope to be able to come back as well.
01:14And why we wanted to do the C5 plus 1 here in addition to the bilateral visit.
01:19How do you see for Uzbekistan the U.S. efforts to diversify critical minerals and strategic supply chains?
01:25Well, I think the whole world is interested in that.
01:27I mean, it's just not smart for – and this is not an attack on any specific country.
01:32It's just not smart for the whole world to depend on one place for 100% of anything.
01:37Because then you're dependent on what happens in that country, what happens in that region.
01:40It could be anything that disrupts it.
01:42So if you look at all of the technologies and industries that are going to define the 21st century, many
01:48of them will be heavy reliant on critical minerals.
01:50So I think there is a global – not just the U.S. – I think there is a global
01:53prioritization being emphasized on diversifying supply chains of everything.
01:59And that includes critical minerals.
02:00If you are a country that has critical minerals and perhaps even the ability to process them, it is in
02:06your national interest, your economic national interest, to fully develop those resources in a way that's responsible and sustainable.
02:13And so when we find countries that want to partner with us on diversifying critical minerals and supply chains, and
02:20in particular, being able to utilize their critical minerals in a way that benefits their country, we're obviously going to
02:27explore that.
02:27And I think we have a chance to do that here.
02:29Рушан Олег Кобарова, Euronews, Самарган.
