4 July 2024 – Astana, Kazakhstan - Secretary General of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) Ambassador Kairat Sarybay participated in the 24th meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Member States, which took place on 4 July 2024 in Astana and was chaired by the Republic of Kazakhstan. The event brought together the heads of member states, observer states, dialogue partners and international organizations that enjoy observer status with the SCO.
The synergy of SCO and CICA capabilities can form a robust foundation for sustainable and inclusive progress, both within and beyond the SCO area. This was stated by Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the CICA chair country, while speaking at the Summit. He expressed appreciation to the Summit participants for their active support in transforming CICA into a full-fledged international organization, whose goals and objectives harmoniously complement the SCO mission.
Today, nine of the ten SCO member states are also members of CICA, which unites 28 countries, and Belarus, which joined the SCO at the Astana Summit, holds observer status in CICA. In the Astana Declaration adopted at the Summit, the SCO member states highlighted the cooperation between the SCO and CICA and emphasized the efforts of the CICA Member States in its institutional development.
CICA established a partnership with the SCO in 2014 when a memorandum was signed between the secretariats of the two regional organizations. In 2017, the Protocol on Cooperation between the CICA Secretariat and the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) was signed. Regional activities of CICA and the SCO have similar goals and objectives and are complementary in nature.
