UNJournal Lee Sung Jun | The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution in May 2026 titled "Strengthening regional and international cooperation to ensure peace, stability and sustainable development in the Central Asian region," marking what a leading Uzbek foreign policy researcher describes as a significant milestone in the region's evolving international standing.

According to Bekzod Normatov, a research fellow at the Institute for Strategic and Regional Studies under the President of Uzbekistan, the resolution was originally proposed by Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev during the General Debate of the UN General Assembly's 80th session in September 2025. It was adopted by consensus, without a vote, and co-sponsored by 66 countries spanning multiple regions, including all five Central Asian states as well as China, Russia, Germany, Brazil, Türkiye and South Korea.

Normatov writes that the resolution's substance reflects an already established regional agenda centered on economic integration, connectivity, the free movement of people, goods and services, industrial cooperation, and engagement among small and medium-sized enterprises. He frames the document as formal recognition of a shift underway in Central Asia: a transition from five states linked mainly through bilateral relations toward a more interconnected regional system capable of articulating common positions internationally.

From fragmentation to regional dialogue

According to the analysis, Central Asia was, as recently as a decade ago, viewed largely as a geographic space rather than a coherent political region, with unresolved border disputes, limited transport links, low mutual trade and minimal trust among states. That began to shift with the launch of regular Consultative Meetings of the Heads of State of Central Asia, an initiative launched by Mirziyoyev in 2017 that has since grown into a broader architecture of regional cooperation encompassing ministerial meetings, economic forums, and engagement among business communities, parliaments, women and youth.

This has been accompanied by the adoption of strategic documents, including a Concept for Cooperation within Multilateral Formats, the "Central Asia 2040" regional cooperation framework, and a Concept of Regional Security and Stability.

Economic indicators

Normatov cites data from the Eurasian Development Bank showing the regional economy grew by approximately 7 percent in 2025, with mutual trade among the five Central Asian countries reaching $12.3 billion—nearly four times the 2016 level. The region's combined economy is projected to surpass $600 billion for the first time in 2026.

He notes that Uzbekistan's own trade turnover with Central Asian countries rose from $2.4 billion in 2016 to $8.3 billion in 2025, an increase of roughly 3.5 times, while the number of enterprises involving capital from regional partners has grown more than sixfold to exceed 2,000.

Border resolution and transport links

The analysis points to the resolution of key border issues between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan and between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan as evidence that former sources of regional tension have increasingly become areas of cooperation, alongside expanded transport links and movement of people and goods. It also cites progress on joint water and energy projects, an area long considered a major point of regional friction.

Transport connectivity projects highlighted include the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway, expanding links to the Trans-Caspian route, and the advancing Trans-Afghan Corridor, which Normatov argues are reshaping the region's economic geography by positioning Central Asia as a connective link between markets in the East, West, North and South.

From 2018 to 2026: a changed agenda

Normatov draws a comparison between the current resolution and a similar one adopted by consensus at Uzbekistan's initiative in 2018, also titled "Strengthening regional and international cooperation to ensure peace, stability and sustainable development in the Central Asian Region." He argues the shift in focus between the two documents—from supporting the building of regional stability in 2018 to supporting deeper cooperation and economic integration in 2026—illustrates how substantially the regional agenda has evolved over eight years.

Uzbekistan's regional role

According to the analysis, Uzbekistan has increasingly positioned its regional policy as integral to its national strategy, with the country's growth linked to expanding opportunities for its neighbors. Normatov quotes President Mirziyoyev as having said that "a strong, consolidated, economically interconnected, open, and stable Central Asia serves the strategic interests of all our partners."

The analysis concludes that while the May 2026 resolution represents international recognition of regional cooperation efforts, the next stage involves translating accumulated political trust into durable economic interdependence through continued growth in trade, joint production projects, transport connectivity, energy cooperation and people-to-people exchange.