Azerbaijan will chair the consultative format bringing together the country and the five Central Asian states in 2027, as the six governments seek to expand cooperation in trade, transport, investment and energy.
The upcoming chairmanship was announced Oct. 8 during the eighth Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Azerbaijan and Central Asia in Turkmenbashi, Turkmenistan. President Ilham Aliyev attended the summit and outlined Azerbaijan’s priorities, according to a Vesti Baku report.
Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said the C6 format would receive new momentum under Azerbaijan’s chairmanship. Azerbaijan became a full participant in the regional consultative mechanism at its seventh meeting in Tashkent in November 2025.
Trade and Investment Links Expand
Aliyev said trade between Azerbaijan and the Central Asian countries increased by more than 50% in 2025. More than 400 companies backed by Central Asian capital are operating in Azerbaijan, he said.
Azerbaijan has also established joint investment funds with Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, each with capital amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars. Aliyev urged the partners to channel more of those resources into new production, industrial cooperation and joint access to foreign markets.
Middle Corridor Traffic Rises
Transport was one of the summit’s main themes. Aliyev said transit cargo carried along the Middle Corridor increased by more than 10% in 2025 and by about 20% in the first eight months of 2026.
He said transport infrastructure on both sides of the Caspian Sea is central to linking Central Asia with Azerbaijan and onward to international markets. The shared goal, he added, is to make those routes more efficient, competitive and capable of handling larger cargo volumes.
Azerbaijan already provides transit for oil from Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. Baku is also working with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan on a green-energy corridor intended to carry renewable electricity across the Caspian and toward European markets.
The 2027 chairmanship is expected to give Azerbaijan a larger role in coordinating the expanded six-country format and advancing practical agreements on logistics, investment and energy connectivity.