Astana, 28-29 May 2026
*translation
Mr. Chairman, Bakytzhan Sagintayev,
Your Excellencies, distinguished colleagues, ladies and gentlemen,
Today, as the global economy undergoes a period of profound transformation and international trade and supply chains face new risks, the convergence of efforts by international and regional organizations in the economic sphere is becoming increasingly important. This is particularly relevant for the Asian part of Eurasia, where new growth hubs are emerging, transport and logistics routes are expanding, digitalization is accelerating and the interdependence of national economies is increasing.
In these circumstances, it is not competition between platforms that matters most, but rather their complementarity. CICA, the EAEU and other organizations operating in the region differ in their mandates, geographical coverage and working mechanisms, yet collectively they span key areas of economic cooperation, from trade, transport and energy to finance, digital technologies and sustainable development. Their concerted efforts can provide an additional impetus for building an interconnected, sustainable and prosperous Asia, and, more broadly, the Eurasian continent as a whole.
The Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia has a special role to play in this process. CICA, which brings together 28 Member States and covers nearly 90 per cent of Asia’s territory, is one of the most inclusive pan-Asian platforms. Today, as CICA is transforming into a fully-fledged international organization, the significance of its bridging function is becoming particularly evident.
Within CICA, a systemic foundation for practical economic interaction has been put in place. The Catalogue of Confidence Building Measures covers eight priority areas of the economic dimension: small and medium enterprises, trade and investment, finance, energy security, agriculture, information technology, tourism and the development of secure and efficient systems of transportation corridors. This set of areas enables the Member States not only to exchange experience, but also to develop joint solutions to issues of strategic importance for Asia’s sustainable growth.
The measures taken by CICA in the area of connectivity deserve particular attention. Amid vulnerabilities in global supply chains and growing demand for diversified transportation routes, the Kazakh Chairmanship of CICA proposed the idea of establishing a Council on Sustainable Connectivity within CICA. This mechanism could serve as a pan-Asian platform for discussing transport, logistics and trade connectivity, exchanging technical expertise, coordinating approaches to the development of transit and transport corridors, digitizing logistics, optimizing transport operations and customs administration, including through the use of artificial intelligence, and promoting paperless trade.
The practical substance of CICA’s economic dimension is ensured by its advisory mechanisms. The Business Council contributes to the development of cooperation in the fields of SMEs, entrepreneurship, investment and e-commerce. The Finance Summit, which has recently been granted the status of a permanent advisory body, seeks to enhance financial stability and promote sustainable development. The CICA Fund shapes the organization’s project-based dimension, allowing a shift from political dialogue to the implementation of concrete initiatives, including in related areas such as food security, sustainable agriculture and climate adaptation.
At the same time, CICA’s potential can be fully realized only when its own confidence building measures are combined with the resources, expertise and sector-specific mechanisms of other organizations. This is the key task at the current stage: not to duplicate existing formats, but to build effective synergies among them through mutual consideration of mandates and respective advantages.
First and foremost, there is considerable potential in aligning the efforts of the CICA and the EAEU. The already established institutional ties with the Eurasian Economic Commission provide a solid basis for dialogue in such areas as the removal of trade barriers, the development of transport and logistics infrastructure, the digitalization of customs and administrative procedures, as well as the broader use of artificial intelligence to enhance regulatory efficiency, improve data analysis and accelerate cross-border operations. In this context, ICA can serve as a broad political and dialogue platform capable of aligning the EAEU’s economic initiatives with the interests of a wider range of Asian states.
CICA’s cooperation with the SCO also offers significant prospects. Official partner relations between the two organizations have existed since 2014, and specific modalities of practical cooperation are currently under discussion, including the possibility of holding a trilateral SCO-CICA-UN event on sustainable development. While traditionally CICA-SCO cooperation has been viewed primarily through the prism of security, today the economic dimension is becoming increasingly relevant, particularly in such areas as transport corridors, digitalization, food security, tourism and multimodal transportation.
Of particular interest is the potential for developing dialogue between CICA and ASEAN. Cooperation with this highly respected regional association is important not only politically, but also in practical economic terms. ASEAN’s approach, based on gradualism, consensus and pragmatism, is in many ways consonant with the philosophy of CICA. This creates opportunities for cooperation in such areas as connectivity, digital transformation, environmental sustainability, human capital development and project-based activities. Deepening contacts between the CICA and ASEAN Secretariats could become an important step toward building a more cohesive architecture of interregional cooperation in Asia.
Ladies and gentlemen,
This year, the CICA Secretariat marks the 20th anniversary of its establishment. To commemorate this occasion, an informal round table will be held on 17 June with the participation of UN entities and regional organizations working in Asia and on Asian issues. We hope that the substantive exchange of views during this event will further strengthen synergies among multilateral structures, many of which are represented at today’s Forum.
Thus, CICA is capable of acting not merely as another regional platform, but as a connecting link among various formats of cooperation in Asia. Its key advantages – inclusivity, broad geographical reach, consensus-based decision-making and the availability of practical mechanisms – enable it to facilitate the integration of efforts where political dialogue, expert coordination and sectoral implementation must be brought together. This is particularly important in the economic sphere, where no single organization can address the full spectrum of challenges related to transport connectivity, trade, finance, energy, digital development and supply chain resilience.
Today, there is a growing demand for a transition from the parallel coexistence of regional initiatives to their conscious integration. This involves coordinating priorities, exchanging best practices, establishing regular inter-secretariat contacts, organizing joint events and, where possible, implementing joint projects. Such an approach would make it possible to transform the diversity of Asian institutions into a genuine competitive advantage for our continent.
I am convinced that, through the active role of CICA, drawing upon its economic confidence building measures and further strengthening partnerships with the EAEU, ECO, ASEAN and SCO, we will be able to build a more coherent, sustainable and practice-oriented space for economic cooperation in Asia.
Thank you.
