Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) - As we already reported, in February 2020 a group of journalists from Central Asia took part in a reporting tour to the USA under the C5 + 1 program, organized with the assistance of the US Embassy in Uzbekistan.

As part of the program, a group of journalists held a meeting at the US Department of State with Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Central Asia Jonathan Henick, during which they discussed the state and prospects of bilateral and regional cooperation, as well as joint plans for the future.

- I am pleased to report that over the past few years we have made great strides in building updated relations between our countries. We are reviewing our cooperation agreements in order to strengthen relations and identify opportunities for further expanding cooperation between the United States and Central Asian countries in various areas: creating jobs, increasing foreign direct investment, and improving the business climate, community-based law enforcement, and air pollution, promoting agriculture in the regions, and important achievements in health and education, he said.

A separate subject of discussion was issues of regional cooperation, including within the framework of the C5 + 1 platform, the Council of the Framework Agreement for the Development of Relations in the Field of Trade and Investments of the USA - Central Asia (TIFA), as well as issues of resolving the situation in Afghanistan and Syria.

“It is vital for the countries of Central Asia to discuss regional issues, such as violent extremism, and solve them together. The United States supports Central Asia in supporting these efforts to counter terrorist groups. We are very pleased to see the changes that are taking place in Uzbekistan: from an economic, political point of view, the development of the labor market in the country,” Jonathan Henick noted in his speech.

Jonathan Henik generally praised the outcome of the Consultative Meeting of the Heads of Central Asian States held in Tashkent and noted that it was held in the context of a completely new dynamic of trusting relations between the countries of the region, which creates a reliable basis for resolving long-standing contradictions and a significant breakthrough in trade and economic partnership.

Jonathan Henick, a senior diplomatic official, currently holds the position of Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Central Asia, Public Diplomacy, and the Press. Before this appointment, he served as the acting deputy coordinator at the Center for Global Interaction, where he helped to conduct and coordinate all the activities of the US government to counter misinformation from Russia, China and Iran.

Prior to that, he served as chief deputy and acting coordinator of the Bureau of International Information Programs. He previously served as Deputy Assistant Secretary and Director of Press and Public Diplomacy at the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, where he was responsible for conducting US public diplomacy in 13 countries, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. He also worked abroad as a public relations adviser in Turkey, as deputy head of mission in Timor-Leste, as well as in other positions in Azerbaijan, Turkey, Portugal and Uzbekistan.