00:01U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has put trade, transport and critical minerals at the center of talks with
00:08Central Asia's five foreign ministers.
00:11The C5 plus 1 meeting in Samarkand brought together the United States, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
00:19The countries gathered here this week are all unique, sovereign, independent states with distinct cultures and distinct interests, all in
00:28charge of their own destinies.
00:30We, in the United States, want to see them thrive as independent states. We want to partner with them as
00:37they do so.
00:38For Washington, the economic agenda includes new trade routes across the Caspian Sea and the most secure supplies of minerals
00:45needed by advanced industries.
00:46We're going to enhance the infrastructure of the Trans-Caspian trade route and give our partners more ways to reach
00:53American and Central Asian markets.
00:55We're going to work to secure our energy future by driving integrated high-value supply chains in our critical minerals
01:02dialogue.
01:03Uzbekistan wants that cooperation to extend beyond extraction, bringing more processing and manufacturing into the region.
01:10It's one of our key priorities. We propose advancing a strategic partnership in critical minerals from geological exploration and mineral
01:20processing to the establishment of local industrial clusters.
01:24Foreign minister Saidov also proposed closer links between the C5 plus 1 diplomatic forum and the B5 plus 1 business
01:32platform, so companies can help identify investment projects.
01:36Rubio also met earlier each of the five ministers separately.
01:40Talks with Uzbekistan's Bakhtior Saidov marked the first meeting of their Enhanced Strategic Partnership Dialogue, covering trade, investment, energy and
01:49security.
01:51Uzbekistan also signed the Artemis Accords, an international framework for peaceful space exploration.
01:57Here in Samarkand, Rubio is accompanied by more than 200 American business leaders, underlining the commercial ambitions behind Washington's diplomatic
02:06push.
02:07He told Euronews that the United States is not asking Central Asian countries to choose between partners.
02:13Instead, Washington is seeking to expand its own economic presence in a region where Russia and China already have strong
02:21ties.
02:22Rushan Alakbarova, Euronews, Samarkand.
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