Scholz: Closer ties to Central Asia a 'strategic goal for Germany'

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Tuesday described the deepening of relations with the republics of Central Asia as a "strategic goal for Germany" as he continued a visit to Kazakhstan for a regional summit.

"Never before has the exchange between our societies been so close - and it is constantly increasing: politically, economically and culturally," Scholz said in the Kazakh capital Astana. "We want to continue and further intensify this."

Scholz had established a strategic partnership with Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan at the first summit bringing together the five Central Asian countries a year ago.

"Especially in times of global uncertainty, we need close, trusting international partners," Scholz said.

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said that cooperation in the energy sector had a "key role" in the relationship with Germany.

He also invited German companies to participate in the exploration of rare earths and other metal deposits in his country and in the extraction of lithium, which is vital for the production of batteries.

Although the five countries - all former Soviet republics - have close relations with Russia, they are also trying to improve relations with Western countries in order to reduce their dependence on their powerful neighbour.

Together, the five countries have just under 80 million inhabitants, slightly less than Germany. However, their area is roughly equivalent to the territory of the entire European Union.

In recent decades, Germany has largely overlooked the region in favour of close economic ties to the two major powers nearby, China and Russia. But Russia's full-scale military invasion of Ukraine upended those relations.

Russia had long been Germany's most important energy supplier, but sanctions over the war in Ukraine led to a sharp reduction in gas deliveries and an energy crisis in Germany, where prices spiked.

The fallout from the split with Russia has also led Germany and other Western countries to consider lessening economic dependence on China in order to reduce similar risks of becoming too dependant on one country.

This has led the German government to explore deeper partnerships countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia.

Kazakhstan is Germany's third most important oil supplier, and is also a producer of uranium, iron ore, zinc, copper and gold.

The country is also considered a potential partner for the production of hydrogen, which is obtained from renewable energies and has been viewed as a potential climate-friendly fuel for the future.