After 24 years in the Nordics, I received an invitation that felt like a return “back home”, but in a new, deeply meaningful way.
Last week, I had the honor of participating in the first-ever Central Asia–Nordics Think Tank Forum in Tashkent, a historic platform bringing together ambassadors, policymakers, scholars, and research institutes from both regions. For the first time, conversations about the future of Central Asia and the Nordics took place together, not separately.
I was invited to speak in the opening business session on expanding and deepening collaboration in business and investment, a responsibility that felt both personal and significant.
A Historic Moment Between Two Regions
This invitation came at a pivotal time. With Finland’s President Alexander Stubb recently visiting Central Asia, and growing interest from Nordic business communities in the region, there is a renewed momentum for strategic cooperation.
Uzbekistan meets the Nordics, far closer than the map suggests.
What became clear during the forum:
- We share far more in common than most assume.
- And we are only at the beginning of what we can create together.
From sustainable growth and connectivity to investment, innovation, and human capital, the potential is enormous.
Why This Forum Matters
The forum united leaders from across government, academia, and business to explore new pathways of collaboration. It also reflected a deeper truth:
Cooperation is not built on policy alone, it is built on people.
People who dare to connect, convene, collaborate, and imagine shared futures beyond political narratives or geographic distance.
As someone who supports Nordic companies entering Central Asia and Central Asian companies navigating the Nordics, I see the opportunities daily. This forum made those opportunities visible at a national and regional level.
Acknowledging Key Partners
My deepest thanks to the individuals who made this historic gathering possible:
- Javlon Vakhabov — Director, IICA; Deputy Advisor to the President of Uzbekistan on Foreign Policy
- Svante E. Cornell — Director, Institute for Security and Development Policy (Sweden)
- Ozod Tanbaev — Event organizer, whose professionalism made the forum seamless
- Alisher Juraev — Honorary Consul of Finland in Uzbekistan; Chair of Nordic International University
- Ambassador Kadambay Sultanov — President’s Office; a leader I learned greatly from during his diplomatic mandate
- Oybek Shaykhov — Executive Director at EUROUZ, consistently amplifying Central Asia–Europe visibility
- Jania Adilbek, PhD, Teivo Teivainen, Gulshanoy Tolipova-Gourdin — whose participation I was proud to support
- Marina Kuznechevskaya — for establishing valuable connections
Your collective leadership made this gathering possible.
I left Tashkent with a strong conviction:
the future of Central Asia–Nordics cooperation lies in sustained, people-centered dialogue.
Shared ambition, inclusive development, and resilient partnerships will define the next chapter of cooperation.
This forum was the first.
I hope it will not be the last.
Here’s to sustainable growth, innovation, and inclusive development, built together, not apart.
Here’s to many more bridges.
