At the consultations, held in the Headquarters of Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the framework of the visit of CICA Executive Director Ambassador Kairat Sarybay on 21 February 2022, Israel was broadly briefed on the concept of the transformation of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) into a full-fledged international organization
Alternate Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel Yair Lapid expressed commitment to further active participation of Israel in CICA process and stressed the “need for keeping CICA professional and effective” at the meeting with CICA Executive Director. Ambassador Sarybay expressed appreciation for Israel’s constant support and proactive role in implementation of CICA confidence building measures.
Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel Ambassador Alon Ushpiz stressed the unique nature of CICA based on its inclusiveness and expressed Israel’s readiness to contribute to enhancing practical cooperation within the Forum. While briefing on the concept of transformation CICA Executive Director noted that idea to upgrade CICA into full-fledged organization was put forward by the Founder of CICA, First President Nursultan Nazarbayev at the commemorative 20th anniversary in 2012. Executive Director outlined that consistent promotion of the initiative to transform the CICA is important for ensuring regional peace and security and shall strengthen the role of Asian states in the global security architecture. Today CICA already possesses all the essential features of international organization, including foundational documents, decision making and working bodies, operational budget and permanent Secretariat. Interlocuters agreed that cornerstone principles of CICA – consensus based decision-making and voluntary participation – should be preserved.
Minister of Tourism of Israel Yoel Razvozov discussed the role of people-to-people contacts in strengthening confidence and economic cooperation among Member States, including the development of ecological tourism destinations of CICA region.
At the meetings with Senior Foreign Policy Advisor of the President of Israel Ambassador Zvi Vapni and Deputy Head of Israel National Security Council for Foreign Policy Avivit Bar-IIan Ambassador Sarybay elaborated on what is CICA today, its related evolution with growing role of Asia in international affairs. Interlocutors shared views on the role of Israel in CICA and further institutionalization of the Forum.
Kazakhstan was elected as the Chairman of the CICA in 2020. One of the strategic goals of Kazakhstan’s Chairmanship is transformation of the forum into a fully-fledged international organization for regional security and cooperation in Asia. The visit of the Executive Director Ambassador Kairat Sarybay is taking place within the framework of the discussions, initiated by the Chairmanship, on the concept paper of transformation of CICA.
