The growing improvement of Italy-Central Asia bilateral relations was proven in mid-September by the launch of the Business Platform (B5+Italy) in Astana. This initiative represents a concrete follow-up to the Italy–Central Asia 5+1 Summit held in Astana in May 2025, that involved, for the first time, the five heads of state with the Italian Prime Minister, thereby upgrading the 1+5 format, previously attended by the Foreign Ministers (Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Undersecretary Tripodi in Astana for the Italy–Central Asia Business Forum, September 19, 2026).
At the centre of B5+1 project in key areas such as energy, critical minerals, manufacturing, agriculture and, obviously, the Middle Corridor. Central Asia’s geographic centrality in the trade and transport routes shipping goods from China to the EU appears strategic for the implementation of these corridors: Italy’s support to Central Asian countries involved in the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route could pave the way for including Italian companies realising infrastructures, driving public and private financial investments and providing industrial and manufacturing expertise.
Since 2019 B5+1 is a mechanism to turn political dialogue and diplomacy into investments, industrial partnership, and regional cooperation (S. Shalgimbayev, D. Palmieri, B5+Italy Turns Italy’s Central Asia Strategy Into Working Platform, The Astana Times, September 21, 2026). According to the Italian MFA, Italian-Central Asia trade grew by 46,5% between 2019 and 2025. There is a potential market of 80 million people and Italy is the 6th supplier of goods for the Central Asia region (half of Italian exports are composed of machinery, 37,5%; textiles and clothes 15%), while FDI amounted to 1,3 billion euro in 2024 (Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Italia-Asia Centrale. Infografica, Settembre 2026).
Significantly, before Italy, the USA promoted a similar approach, adding to the classic 1+5 format (which was adopted in 2015) the B5+1 under the Biden Administration in 2023 and confirmed by the current Trump Administration. The next scheduled talks for Rome are the 1+5 meeting of Foreign Ministers and especially the next Italy-Central Asia summit, which is planned in Kyrgyzstan in 2027.
Italy cannot compete with China and the USA in terms of investments but politically Italy is a relevant partner, eventually also on security issues. In this perspective, Azerbaijan’s inclusion in the Consultative Meeting of Central Asia’s Heads of State, a kind of C6 format, scheduled for October, may be useful in the sectors of transport, connectivity and energy security, since Baku is at the intersection of the Middle Corridor and the Southern Energy Corridor.
