On August 2, the first tripartite meeting of the ministers of foreign affairs, trade, economy, and transport of Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Uzbekistan was held in Tashkent, the Press Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan reported. Minister of Foreign Affairs Jeyhun Bayramov, Minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov, and Minister of Digital Development and Transport Rashad Nabiyev participated in the meeting.

At the meeting, views on foreign policy, regional cooperation opportunities, and the work done to realize the full potential of cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, investment, and transport of the three countries were discussed. Also, the possibilities of cooperation in the field of energy, especially in the field of renewable energy sources, were considered. In order to better use the high transit potential of Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Uzbekistan, the possibilities of further strengthening of cooperation on the development of international transport corridors were also discussed. In this regard, the importance of the Trans-Caspian International East-West Middle Corridor and the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway as a part of this corridor was emphasized. It was noted that the opening of all communications in the region, including the Zangazur corridor, will serve the expansion of international transport links.

The Ministry of Transport of Uzbekistan initiated the formation of a new multimodal corridor Turkey-Caucasus-Central Asia-South Asia-Afghanistan. Ilkhom Makhkamov, the Minister of Transport of Uzbekistan, made a corresponding proposal at the trilateral meeting of the ministers of Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and Turkey. According to the Minister, it is necessary to make joint efforts to develop cargo transportation with the countries of South Asia. Makhkamov proposed to use the possibility of transporting goods through the territory of Afghanistan to Pakistan. "Uzbek carriers are already testing the route, having started delivering goods by road through Afghan territory," the Head of the Transport Department noted. "The volume of cargo transportation on the route Pakistan-Afghanistan-Uzbekistan has recently increased significantly. In the first six months of 2022, the volume of transported goods increased by 2.6 times and amounted to 330,000 tons. Over the same period, the volume of cargo transportation between Uzbekistan and the countries of the CIS, the Middle East, the Caucasus, and the EU increased by 3.5 times compared to the same period in 2021. Now it is 52 thousand tons," he added.

Ahmad Alili, an expert on international management, said that the meeting held in Tashkent is one of the elements of the new realities that emerged after the Karabakh war and as a result of the Russia-Ukraine war. "The Karabakh war of 2020 showed the importance and reputation of Azerbaijan and Turkey for Central Asian countries in a completely different form. In this context, there is great interest in the Azerbaijan-Turkey tandem. Azerbaijan is also very interested in acting in this direction. This is also an issue agreed with Azerbaijan's partners in the European Union and the United States. The US and European Union partners want to reach the Central Asian region through Azerbaijan and the Caspian Sea. It is also possible to access the resources of the Caspian Sea and the region along this line. In the letters sent by the President of the United States to the President of Azerbaijan, the name of Azerbaijan is emphasized in the issues related to the Tanaszazar region rather than the South Caucasus. Issues of cooperation in this direction are indicated," the expert noted the last visit of the President of Azerbaijan to Uzbekistan." Alili believes that the development of political and diplomatic relations will lead to the development of trade relations. "Because political relations cannot continue for a long time without creating the basis of economic relations. An active political and diplomatic agenda will soon transform into an economic agenda. Considering that the economic resources of the European Union and the United States will develop in this direction," the expert recalled the recent visits of the European Union and the United States representatives to Baku.