COGGS Content Team║
IN ORDER TO get the Central Asian nations out of the clutch of Russia and China, the European Union has been pulling up its socks and contemplating the best ways to engage with the region. The Third European Union-Central Asia Economic Forum was convened in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on November 26, 2025, followed by the EU-Central Asia Summit in Samarkand. The forum hosted business leaders, investors, and government representatives from over 32 countries, where the EU contingent was led by EU Commissioners Jozef Síkela and Marta Kos.
EU–Central Asia Economic Forum in Tashkent warmed up EU–Central Asia economic ties, with six cooperation agreements worth nearly €100 million signed across irrigation, ecology, digital geodata, and security, framing 2025 as “The Year of Europe” in the region. The EBRD highlighted its cumulative €21 billion already invested in 1,227 projects in Central Asia, while a new €3 million EU–EBRD agreement targets sustainable mining of critical raw materials to feed Europe’s green transition.
The Forum’s inking of six major €100 million deals , ranging from DATA4CRM (€7.5M) for investor-attracting geodata modernization, SECURE CRM (€3M) and GROW CRM (€3M) for transparent critical raw materials chains, the €48.8M Aral Sea restoration, to BOMCA (€12M) and CADAP (€18M) for border security and anti-drug efforts reflects a commitment of EU.
Central Asia is comprised of five post-soviet states Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, where as EU remains a 27-member European club, after UK’s exit from the bloc. EU–Central Asia Economic Forum was considered a precondition for success for both the EU’s presence in the region and for Central Asia’s desire for increased business with Europe. 
Central Asian Development projects are subjected to create a sustainable future, generate jobs, establish value chains, and generate wealth in the region. The drives are simultaneously intended to increase the economic security and resilience for Europe.
The economic partnership is currently at a pivotal juncture, with discussions focusing on strengthening regional connectivity and exploring sustainable investment opportunities. The habitat of 80 million Central Asia is readying herself to accommodate 100 million people by 2050. The central asian nations have shown great camaraderie on regional and international issues, despite internal tussles back home.
The economic engagement between the EU and Central Asia is based upon couple of factors ranging from bilateral commerce, particularly with Uzbekistan, and substantial financial allocation from European institutions.
The EU maintains its position as Uzbekistan’s largest investor. In 2024, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) allocated a total of two billion euros to Central Asia. Of this figure, 85 million euros were allocated specifically to Uzbekistan.
EU is one of Central Asia’s primary trading partners, accounting for 24.7% of the region’s combined foreign trade in 2024, with overall trade volume reaching approximately €54 billion ($60 billion ). EU imports from Central Asia surged 68% in 2024, dominated by commodities like crude oil, gas, metals, and cotton fiber, especially from Kazakhstan, where EU trade hit €45 billion and Kazakhstan sends 37% of its exports to the EU—while EU exports to the region, mainly machinery, transport equipment, and manufactured goods, dipped slightly by 5%. Key frameworks include the Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (EPCA) with Kazakhstan since 2020, Generalized Scheme of Preferences (GSP/GSP+) for Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, plus recent €12 billion Global Gateway investments in transport (i.e Middle Corridor), critical raw materials, green energy, and digital connectivity, alongside €100 million in new deals from the 2025 Tashkent Forum.
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has emerged as the leading institutional investor in Central Asia. It has provided over €2.26 billion to 121 projects in 2024 alone and mobilizing more than €3 billion for the region’s real economy, with a strong focus on private-sector development, sustainable infrastructure, and green transition.
Whereas Brettonwoods institution IMF usually focuses macroeconomic stabilization, balance-of-payments support, and policy advice through instruments and capacity-building platforms (such as CCAMTAC center in Almaty), EBRD is primarily a project-based lender and equity investor designed to boost market-oriented economies and crowd in private capital. World Bank’s Central Asia portfolio, on the other hand, underscores large-scale public-sector investments and policy reforms in areas such as social services, connectivity, and climate resilience, operating one of its largest programs globally in the region, while Asian Development Bank (ADB) positions itself as a regional development financier with a strong focus on infrastructure, regional integration, and knowledge support.
EBRD’s niche lies in its deep local presence, its role as the largest green lender in Central Asia. About 58 percent of EBRD 2024 financing supported green economy projects and its capacity to work directly with firms and municipalities, often co-financing alongside World Bank and ADB and complementing IMF policy conditionality rather than competing with it. This makes the EBRD a critical bridge between macro-level reform agendas driven by the IMF and World Bank and the micro-level, commercially oriented investments needed to embed market disciplines, support SMEs, and operationalize the region’s shift toward sustainable, diversified growth.
As the European nations are finding alternatives of Russia and China for essential energy supplies, Central Asia appears to be the perfect fit. The forum has positioned Central Asia as a multipolar transit hub via Trans-Caspian routes while generating local jobs and green reforms.
