Afghanistan Foreign Minister Dadfar Spanta is welcomed by Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso prior to their talks in Tokyo.
© AFP Kazuhiro Nogi

TOKYO (AFP) - The pledge came at a meeting between Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso and his counterparts from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan plus an envoy from Kazakhstan. Afghanistan sent its foreign minister as an observer.

The ministers agreed on an action plan which also involves the promotion of political dialogue, business development and cultural exchanges.

Japan will support the improvement of road infrastructure in Tajikistan as part of efforts to establish a route through Afghanistan that can be used to transport oil and gas from Central Asian countries to the south.

"I think this is a very important step to promote cooperation which I expect to contribute to stability and prosperity in Central Asia and reconstruction in Afghanistan," Aso told reporters.

Ministers agreed to consider holding summit-level talks in the future. No fresh aid money was announced.

Japan is looking to step up cooperation with the oil and gas rich nations as it competes with the booming Chinese economy for regional energy resources.

Japan is heavily reliant on foreign energy and imports nearly all of its oil, mostly from the Middle East.

Japan also praised the Central Asian nations for agreeing to support its bid to secure a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, which its regional rival China opposes.

The "Central Asia plus Japan Dialogue" meeting comes as Russia and China also seek to boost their influence in the region through the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

© 2006 AFP. All rights of reproduction and distribution reserved. All information displayed on this section (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.