Korea-Central Asia Summit: South Korea will host the first Korea–Central Asia summit in Seoul on Sept. 16, with leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, aiming to boost cooperation on critical minerals, energy, supply-chain diversification, AI/digital tech, climate and water, and to adopt a “Seoul Declaration.” Trade & agriculture ties: Pakistan’s Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Rana Tanveer Hussain met Tajik Ambassador Yusuf Sharifzoda to push up bilateral trade and revive cooperation in agriculture, food processing, livestock and farm technology ahead of an ECO meeting in September. Regional economic coordination: The CIS Economic Council held its 111th regular meeting in Ashgabat, approving programmes and concepts to strengthen practical economic cooperation, with transport and digitalization among key themes. Tourism integration: CAREC’s Tourism Working Group met in Tashkent to advance regional tourism initiatives, including upgrading the “Visit Silk Road” portal, deploying AI travel tools and adopting GSTC standards for smoother cross-border travel. Water diplomacy in focus: Turkmenistan hosted a second consultative meeting on implementing a UN special programme for the Aral Sea Basin, with Tajikistan among participating states. IMF debt snapshot: IMF data shows Tajikistan has the region’s largest outstanding IMF loans (111.36m SDR, about $153m), while Uzbekistan is second (73.64m SDR, about $101.2m).