Japan’s PM Takaichi meets five Central Asian leaders in Tokyo, focusing on rare earths, AI partnerships, and new trade routes to counter China
TOKYO: Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi hosted an inaugural summit on Friday with five Central Asian leaders as Tokyo competes for influence in the resource-rich region.
Takaichi is meeting with counterparts from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan during a two-day conference in Tokyo.
The summit follows a similar meeting hosted by US President Donald Trump in Washington last month.
Like the United States and the European Union, Japan is drawn by the region’s enormous but mostly unexploited natural resources.
Tokyo aims to diversify rare earths supplies and reduce dependence on Beijing, according to analysts.
“Natural resources have become a strong focus particularly in the past year because of China’s moves involving rare earths,” said Professor Tomohiko Uyama of Hokkaido University.
During the summit, Takaichi and the five leaders are expected to establish an “AI partnership” framework.
This aims to use technology to explore mineral deposits in undeveloped mines, the Nikkei Asia business daily reported.
Tokyo also plans to offer support to develop the “Caspian Sea Route,” a logistics network connecting to Europe without passing through Russia.
Japan has long encouraged its businesses to invest in the region, but they have so far remained cautious.
Among Japan’s focus areas will be resource development, decarbonisation assistance and infrastructure help, Uyama said.
Kazakhstan is the world’s largest uranium producer, while Uzbekistan has giant gold reserves and Turkmenistan is rich in gas.
Mountainous Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are also opening up new mineral deposits.
However, exploiting these giant reserves remains complicated in the impoverished states with harsh and remote terrains.
The ex-Soviet republics still see Moscow as a strategic partner but have been spooked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
China, which shares borders with three of the nations, has presented itself as a main commercial partner through huge infrastructure projects. – AFP
