All five Central Asian presidents arrived in Washington, D.C., this week for the C5+1 Summit, marking a decade since the platform’s launch in 2015. Hosted by President Donald Trump at the White House, the summit coincided with the C5+1 Business Conference at the Kennedy Center’s the REACH, which brought together senior U.S. officials, corporate executives, and investors from across the region.

The dual-track format—a presidential summit focused on strategic direction and a business conference centered on investments and commercial partnerships—produced a powerful combination of high-level political signals and tangible economic outcomes. The 10th-anniversary meetings marked a turning point in U.S.–Central Asia relations: the announcement of the $25 billion “Deal Zone,” unveiled by the U.S. Department of Commerce, featured a dozen major trade and investment partnerships between the United States and the five Central Asian countries.

While previous summits emphasized policy dialogue on governance, energy, and security, this year’s engagements showcased a decisive pivot toward deal-oriented, sectoral cooperation, reflecting both Washington’s evolving industrial strategy and the region’s pursuit of concrete, bankable results.

The Caspian Policy Center tracked live updates throughout the day; read the full thread here.

The Presidential Summit: What Was on the Table

The Central Asian leaders, including President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Japarov, President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedow, and President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, attended the Presidential Summit that took place at the White House with President Donald Trump. They were joined by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Special Presidential Envoy for South and Central Asia Sergio Gor, and Senators Steve Daines and James Risch.

During the discussions, leaders emphasized the importance of joint projects with the United States in various fields of interest, including critical minerals, transportation, information technologies and artificial intelligence, banking, finance, energy, and more. Each Central Asian leader used the platform to highlight his national priorities and to position his country within the evolving framework of U.S.–regional cooperation.

President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev underscored Kazakhstan’s interest in deepening economic cooperation and expanding its strategic partnerships with the United States, while also positioning Astana as a bridge for broader regional collaboration. During the Summit, President Trump announced that Kazakhstan is set to join the Abraham Accords, the diplomatic pact brokered by the United States to normalize relations between Israel and Muslim-majority countries. President Tokayev praised the bilateral cooperation between Kazakhstan and the United States, noting over $100 billion in U.S. investment, doubled trade nearing $5 billion, the presence of 600 U.S. companies in the country, and Kazakhstan accounting for 25% of America’s uranium supply.

President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev presented Uzbekistan’s long-term vision for transforming the C5+1 into a delivery platform for investment and technology partnerships. He proposed creating a permanent Secretariat, which would be located on a rotational basis in the Central Asian countries. Furthermore, Mirziyoyev proposed to set up a Coordination Council for Investment and Trade to ensure a systematic dialogue between government structures and businesses. “We are ready to consistently work with the United States on the implementation of transport, communication, and energy projects connecting Central Asia with Europe, using the “Trump Route,” he stated. Mirziyoyev then announced the development of a three-year plan for the implementation of an investment program between Uzbekistan and the United States worth $34 billion.

President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon paid special attention to issues of expanding economic cooperation, increasing trade turnover between the countries, and attracting investment in promising sectors of the national economy. Noting Tajikistan’s significant hydropower resources, Rahmon emphasized the country's readiness to further develop cooperation with partners to strengthen the green energy sector and transmit electricity to neighboring countries. He also noted that investments in the extraction and processing of minerals are among the priority and promising areas of Tajikistan’s economy.

President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Japarov underlined that the country has focused on three strategic directions in its relations with the United States, including hydropower, transportation links, and development of information technology and artificial intelligence. He said that the Kyrgyz Republic’s total hydropower potential exceeds 140 billion kWh per year, but currently only 15% of this volume is utilized. Japarov also spoke about the importance of developing financial and banking cooperation, which will enable banking transactions, attract investments, implement projects, and activate trade between Central Asia and the United States.

President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedow recognized the good results since the creation of the C5+1 format and commended the expansion of cooperation into strategical areas such as security, economy, energy, and environment. “We believe that the results of this summit will lead us to further expansion of multifaceted cooperation between the United States and Central Asia,” he added.

Meanwhile, momentum on Capitol Hill mirrored the summit’s economic tone. On November 4, Senators Steve Daines and Chris Murphy introduced S.1303, a bipartisan bill to repeal the remaining provisions of the Jackson–Vanik amendment—a Cold War–era restriction that still affects trade with four of the five Central Asian states. The initiative signals growing congressional interest in normalizing trade and expanding investment with the region.

Outside the formal White House proceedings, each head of state pursued a packed bilateral agenda across Washington. Presidents Tokayev, Mirziyoyev, and Japarov held separate meetings with Representatives Carol Miller, Bill Huizenga, Sydney Kamlager-Dove, and Jimmy Panetta, as well as Senators Risch and Daines, to discuss legislative support for closer cooperation with the United States. President Mirziyoyev also met with U.S. Development Finance Corporation (DFC) CEO Ben Black and Export–Import Bank (EXIM) Chairman John Jovanovic to explore new financing channels for priority projects, SME support, and a possible DFC regional office in Tashkent. President Tokayev met separately with Chevron CEO Michael Wirth, reaffirming ongoing cooperation at the Tengiz and Karachaganak oil and gas fields and emphasizing Kazakhstan’s openness to further U.S. energy investment.

Taken together, the week’s meetings underscored how the political and commercial tracks of the C5+1 anniversary were deliberately intertwined. Senior U.S. officials and Central Asian leaders used the occasion not only to celebrate a decade of cooperation but also to recast the platform as a vehicle for strategic economic engagement linking diplomacy, investment, and industry in a single, coordinated agenda.

Critical Minerals and Energy Security

In line with expectations discussed at the Caspian Policy Center on the eve of the C5+1 Summit, critical minerals cooperation was the headliner for the deals. During President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s bilateral meetings at the U.S. Department of State, Kazakhstan and the United States signed a Memorandum of Cooperation on critical minerals, solidifying collaboration on geological exploration, processing, and responsible sourcing.

Complementing the state-level framework, Cove Capital LLC and Tau-Ken Samruk, Kazakhstan’s national mining company, announced a joint venture to develop the Northern Katpar and Upper Kairakty tungsten deposits — the world’s largest known undeveloped tungsten resource. Cove’s portfolio company, Cove Kaz Capital Group LLC, will hold a 70% stake in the new venture, valued at $1 billion, with the total deposit estimated at $80 billion. The project is backed by a letter of intent from the U.S. Export–Import Bank and is expected to support downstream industrial uses within U.S. supply chains.

To sustain these minerals/energy cooperation ambitions, Colorado School of Mines confirmed its first international campus in Zhezkazgan with Ulytau Technical University (programs slated to start in 2026). Partnerships with Arizona State University and ETS aim to align testing and certification standards with international engineering and technical education norms.

Connectivity and Aviation

On the aviation front, Boeing secured major orders across the region. Air Astana announced its largest-ever purchase—up to fifteen 787-9 Dreamliners—to expand long-haul operations and strengthen transcontinental routes. Uzbekistan Airways, following its prior order announced on the sidelines of UNGA in September, added a deal for eight more Dreamliners, bringing its fleet to 22 widebody aircraft and cementing Tashkent’s role as a regional air hub. Meanwhile, Somon Air of Tajikistan placed its first widebody order, comprising four Dreamliners and 10 737 MAX jets, enabling the airline’s entry into intercontinental markets.

In airspace modernization, Leidos confirmed a 19-year contract with KazAeroNavigatsia to overhaul Kazakhstan’s national air traffic management system using its SkyLine-X platform. The project—spanning four control centers and twenty-one towers—represents one of the largest U.S. technology deployments in Central Asian civil aviation.

Rail and logistics development also featured prominently. Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ) signed a $1.6 billion U.S. EXIM bank-backed financing agreement with Citibank to support its locomotive modernization program with Wabtec – announced in New York in September -- further integrating Kazakhstan’s rail industry with U.S. manufacturing supply chains. In parallel, All American Rail Group, a Texas-based engineering firm, reached an agreement with the Kyrgyz Republic to advance rail construction and design initiatives—key to strengthening the Middle Corridor as an alternative trade route connecting Central Asia to Europe.

Together, these projects demonstrate the C5+1’s strategic emphasis on connectivity as both a commercial and geopolitical priority, tightening Central Asia’s infrastructure links with Western markets while diversifying routes away from Russian and Chinese networks.

AI, Digital Infrastructure, and Emerging Technology

If connectivity formed the physical backbone of the summit’s agenda, digital infrastructure provided its nervous system. Artificial intelligence and data cooperation featured at the center of multiple agreements, signaling a rapid expansion of U.S.–Central Asia engagement into high-tech domains.

In one of the most high-profile announcements, NVIDIA signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation, and Aerospace Industry (MDIDO) and Freedom Holding Corporation. In collaboration with OpenAI, the partners plan to supply advanced AI chips and computing systems to power Kazakhstan’s national data centers—an initiative valued at up to $2 billion according to public reports. The project represents a major step toward building sovereign AI capacity and embedding U.S. technology within Kazakhstan’s digital ecosystem.

Complementing this, Kazakhstan’s digital ministry, KazakhTelecom, and Perplexity AI signed an agreement granting one year of free access to Perplexity Pro for Kazakhstan’s citizens, alongside joint research initiatives at Alem.AI and planned data-center expansions to strengthen domestic computing infrastructure.

In parallel, VEON’s Beeline Kazakhstan and Starlink signed an agreement to introduce satellite-to-mobile connectivity nationwide by 2026—initially for text messaging, with full data services to follow. The agreement places Kazakhstan among the early adopters of Starlink’s next-generation satellite network.

Tajikistan, too, is emerging as a digital first-mover. The Ministry of Industry and New Technologies signed an agreement with Perplexity AI and Epsilon3.ai to deploy the Comet AI Browser across government agencies, enabling AI-assisted document analysis and policy design. Separately, Transparent Earth inked a $30 million agreement with Avesto Group to establish a National Digital Platform for tracking mineral data. Tajikistan also advanced its earlier partnership with Supermicro and NVIDIA to develop a hydropower-fueled AI supercomputing grid, first announced in mid-2025.

Digital cooperation has moved from the margins to the core of U.S.–Central Asia relations. The C5+1 is now a platform for exporting not only American infrastructure and capital, but also technology standards, software ecosystems, and governance models for emerging technologies.

Finance

In addition to the $1.6 billion Citi–KTZ–Wabtec financing package, Kazakhstan’s National Investment Corporation (NIC) announced a private equity investment platform with Brookfield Asset Management, Service Capital Management, and Ashford Investment Advisors, designed to mobilize capital for infrastructure and energy projects. Meanwhile, the Kyrgyz Republic’s Aiyl Bank signed an agreement with Citi Bank and Oppenheimer & Co., establishing correspondent accounts for international settlements and laying the groundwork for future Eurobond issuance—building on Kyrgyzstan’s first $700 million sovereign bond, earlier  underwritten by Oppenheimer.

Agriculture 

John Deere signed a $2.5 billion strategic agreement with Kazakhstan to produce up to 3,000 agricultural machines—including tractors and seeders—at Agromash Holding KZ facilities over the next five years. The deal also encompasses localized assembly, service centers, and training programs to develop a skilled workforce. In Uzbekistan, the Ministry of Agriculture announced new cooperation frameworks with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to facilitate joint research, crop science collaboration, and knowledge exchange, and held follow-up talks with John Deere to expand the use of precision-farming and “smart agriculture” technologies.

A Platform Comes of Age

The 10th anniversary of the C5+1 has redefined the platform’s scope. What began as a regional coordination dialogue a decade ago has evolved into a strategic economic architecture linking Central Asia to U.S. industrial, financial, and technological ecosystems. From tungsten mines to AI chips, from Dreamliners to data centers, the 2025 summit produced a level of commercial engagement not seen since the platform’s inception. The deals are at different stages — some concrete, others aspirational — but collectively they demonstrate the transformation of U.S.–Central Asia relations from dialogue into delivery.

For Washington, this reflects a new model of engagement — one that fuses diplomacy with industrial strategy and aligns with global competition over supply chains, minerals, and digital systems. For Central Asia, it offers both opportunity and challenge: a chance to diversify partnerships, attract technology, and assert agency in a crowded geopolitical field. Whether these commitments translate into sustained cooperation will depend on implementation — but for now, the Washington C5+1 meetings have signaled that a decade after its launch, the platform has fully taken off — and promises to turn shared ambitions into measurable results.