Central Asian states and Japan to boost cooperation in transport

A train of Tohoku Shinkansen Line heading for Sendai pulls in the station in Tokyo, Japan, April 25, 2011. (Xinhua Photo)

ASTANA, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Foreign ministers and ambassadors of Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Japan met in Ashgabat, capital city of Turkmenistan, on Monday and adopted a road map for cooperation in the field of transport and logistics. 

"This format of multilateral cooperation has demonstrated its high efficiency and usefulness during 13-year period of its existence. It has become broader and now covers the main directions of cooperation between the Central Asian region and Japan," local report from Ashgabat quoted Turkmen Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov as saying.

The meeting between the representatives of the Central Asian region and Japan focused on further deepening of regional practical cooperation as well as regional security and sustainable development.

Meeting between Central Asia and Japan were initiated by the Japanese government in 2004 to promote dialogue between Japan and the Central Asian countries. (By Zhou Liang, Shi Hao)