Jakarta, 20 January 2026 - The Secretary General of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA), Ambassador Kairat Sarybay, paid a working visit to Jakarta marking his first official visit to the capital of the Republic of Indonesia.
As part of the visit, the Secretary General held inaugural consultations with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, alongside a meeting with the Secretary General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).The discussions focused on strengthening CICA’s engagement with Southeast Asia, advancing sectoral interaction, and exploring avenues for practical cooperation in support of peace, security and sustainable development across Asia.
In his meeting with Mr. Adi Dzulfuat, Director of Pacific and Oceania Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, the Secretary General briefed his counterpart on the current stage of CICA’s development and its gradual transformation into a full-fledged international organization. He outlined the key priorities of the Azerbaijani Chairmanship for 2024–2026, pursued under the theme “Stronger CICA: Connectivity, Digitalization and Sustainable Growth in Asia,” as well as the three strategic pillars guiding CICA’s work at present: strengthening institutional capacity, enhancing sectoral cooperation through confidence building measures, and increasing CICA’s international visibility and partnerships.
The Secretary General recalled Indonesia’s early involvement in the negotiations leading to the establishment of CICA and its long-standing status as an Observer State, noting that Indonesia has closely followed CICA’s evolution. He emphasized the inclusive and consensus-based nature of CICA, its balanced membership and broad geographic representation, and reiterated that the organization remains open to Indonesia’s closer engagement in the CICA process.
The Indonesian side was also informed about CICA’s expanding programme of activities, including preparations for the Seventh CICA Summit to be held in October 2026 in Baku, where the signing of the organization’s Charter is envisaged as a key milestone, as well as a number of major events planned for 2026, especially in the Environmental dimension.
Mr. Dzulfuat reaffirmed Indonesia’s strong commitment to multilateral dialogue, citing its recent BRICS membership and the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the Eurasian Economic Union. He also pointed to Jakarta’s interest in utilizing CICA’s practical potential, in particular in the economic domain, including trade and connectivity.
The meeting with H.E. Dr. Kao Kim Hourn, Secretary General of ASEAN, marked the first engagement of a CICA Secretary General at the ASEAN Headquarters, building on the dialogue initiated between the two Secretariats in recent years. Ambassador Sarybay provided an overview of CICA’s mandate, priorities and programme of work, and expressed interest in further exchanges of experience on areas such as connectivity, environmental issues, youth engagement, volunteerism, capacity building and project implementation.
Both sides reaffirmed their readiness to maintain regular inter-secretariat contacts in a pragmatic and flexible format, recognizing the complementary roles played by CICA and ASEAN in promoting dialogue, confidence building and cooperation in Asia and beyond.
Secretary General Sarybay also got accustomed with environment-friendly technologies of the ASEAN Headquarters and visited the ASEAN Gallery where he was presented with information about the ASEAN Artists Residency Programme.
The working visit to Jakarta reaffirmed the relevance of inclusive multilateral platforms in addressing shared regional challenges and reflected CICA’s continued efforts to strengthen partnerships with Southeast Asia as part of its broader pan-Asian mandate.
