Korea-Central Asia Summit: South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung will host the inaugural Korea–Central Asia summit in Seoul next Wednesday, aiming to deepen energy and critical-mineral cooperation and link Korean energy exploration and mineral processing tech with Central Asia’s resources. Trade Corridor Watch: Uzbek rail officials say a 55-car block train of Chinese goods has entered Kazakhstan and will travel about 6,000 km through Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan to Iran, with the exact cargo contents still unclear. Uzbek Payments Upgrade: Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan will launch cross-border QR-code payments, letting Uzbek users pay in Kazakhstan via the Kazakh QR system and Kazakh users pay in Uzbekistan via UzQR, plus plans for cross-border card transfers through mobile banking. BRICS Finance Push: Ahead of the New Delhi BRICS summit, Putin pitched an NDB-based investment platform for trade, logistics and technology, while Iran’s Pezeshkian urged wider use of national currencies and digital customs to reduce shock risk. Uzbek Tech & Policy: Uzbekistan’s Senate approved Latin alphabet changes (Ö, Ğ, Ş, Ç) to standardize spelling for schools, media and digital systems. Innovation Spotlight: IT Park Uzbekistan and partners backed the Road to TechCrunch Startup Battlefield 2026 regional winners—Cerberus, WeGlobal AI and LOOQ—advancing to TechCrunch Disrupt.