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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz took off for Uzbekistan early on Sunday, where he plans to conclude deals on issues including migration during his first stop on a three-day trip to Central Asia.<\/p>\n
Scholz is due to reach Samarkand on Sunday afternoon where he is set to sign several agreements with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, including a deal to facilitate the immigration to Germany of Uzbek skilled workers and the repatriation of Uzbeks required to leave the country.<\/p>\n
He is then due to head to Kazakhstan, the largest and economically strongest country in the region, on Monday and Tuesday. There he is to attend a summit with the region’s five former Soviet republics – including Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan – which are all heavily influenced by heavyweights Russia and China.<\/p>\n
Scholz aims to expand relations with these countries and entered into a strategic partnership with them last year, covering the economy, energy, climate and the environment.<\/p>\n
In Kazakhstan, his talks are set to focus on oil and gas supplies to Germany and also on sanctions targeting Russia, as Kazakhstan is accused of enabling these sanctions to be circumvented.<\/p>\n
Since the outbreak of Russia’s all-out war on Ukraine in February 2022, Germany has sought to diversify its relations in the region, which had previously focused heavily on economic ties to Russia and China.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n