Launch of the Silk Seven Plus (S7+) Initiative

The Central Asia Center at the New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy is pleased to announce the launch of the Silk Seven Plus (S7+) initiative on Capitol Hill — a framework to deepen regional integration across Central Asia while expanding connectivity to global markets.

The event will feature opening remarks from members of Congress and leading policy experts, followed by two panel discussions exploring the case for regional cooperation along the S7+ framework and the role of the U.S. and E.U. in confronting challenges to Central Asian regional development. The S7+ is a proposed next-generation regional economic partnership, which brings together Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan to unlock one of the world's most strategically significant regions.

At its core, S7+ reflects a growing recognition that Central Asia sits at the crossroads of global competition — home to vast reserves of critical minerals, key transit routes between East and West, and significant untapped economic potential. The initiative focuses on strengthening regional cooperation to address shared challenges including water scarcity, energy deficits, and limited market access, while building new trade corridors connecting the region to Europe, the Middle East, and the Indo-Pacific.

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