Central Asia

Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia are taking steps to promote business ties and investment at a time when both countries continue to prioritise economic reform and development.

After years of negotiations, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan have reached a preliminary agreement on the joint exploration of a disputed section of an undersea hydrocarbons field in the Caspian Sea believed to hold extensive energy reserves. President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Turkmen president Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, attended online the signing by their foreign ministers of a memorandum on the mutual intention to jointly explore and develop the Dostlug (Friendship) undersea field.