Secretary General of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) Ambassador Kairat Sarybay paid a working visit to the Kyrgyz Republic, where he held consultations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Executive Office of of the President of Kyrgyzstan.
At the meeting with Head of the Foreign Policy Department of the Executive Office of the President of Kyrgyzstan Muratbek Azymbakiev, the parties confirmed mutual commitment to the incremental implementation of the decision of the CICA leaders on CICA transformation. The Kyrgyz side stressed the relevance of CICA in the context of strengthening the role of Asia in global affairs and against the backdrop of a changing geopolitical architecture, as well as expressed readiness to be actively involved in ensuring practical interaction within the forum.
In the course of the meeting with Deputy Foreign Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic Aibek Moldogaziev, the Secretary General encouraged the partners to take an active part in discussions on the draft Road Map for CICA Transformation, which is planned to be endorsed at an Informal Ministerial Meeting this September. The parties discussed the activities of the CICA Youth and Business Councils, Think Tank Forum, assessed the prospects for the implementation of such new initiatives as the creation of a Council for Sustainable Connectivity and a Partnership Network of Leading CICA Universities. The Deputy Foreign Minister, in turn, assured of Bishkek's intention to continue working as a co-coordinator in the human dimension and in the area of trade and investment, making efforts to intensify CICA activities in these domains. In particular, there are considerations to hold a business conference in Kyrgyzstan in 2024.
A separate block of consultations was devoted to the preparations for the Kazakh-Kyrgyz initiative on hiking tour from Kazakhstan to Kyrgyzstan in July this year with the participation of the heads of diplomatic missions in Astana. It is understood that the successful implementation of such a grand and ambitious project will not only strengthen good-neighborly relations between the two Central Asian states, but it will also serve as a good example of mutually beneficial cross-border cooperation for the entire CICA area.
Ambassador Kairat Sarybay also met with the candidate nominated by Kyrgyzstan to the CICA Council of Eminent Persons Mrs Ishenkul Boldzhurova, an experienced Kyrgyz stateswoman, prominent scholar and academician. There was a lively exchange of views on the place and role of CICA in the pan-Asian system of multilateral cooperation, as well as on the prospects for its transformation.
