Secretary General of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) Ambassador Kairat Sarybay took part in the Central Asian Security and Cooperation Forum, which was held in Astana on 13-14 July 2023.
The Forum brought together prominent political and public figures, heads of international organizations, eminent representatives of academia, think tanks, the business community and the press, becoming a major international event such as the security fora in Munich (Germany) and Doha (Qatar).
Addressing the Forum’s general session “Dialogue on Global Security Challenges: in Search of Ways of Cooperation”, Kairat Sarybay noted the special role played by CICA on the Asian continent, uniting 28 states, 90% of the territory of Asia and half of the world's population. The Secretary General highlighted the CICA Catalogue of Confidence Building Measures, a unique document in world history, through which the Member States build their interaction by upholding the “simple-to-complex” principle – first establishing confidence, then, on this basis, building full cooperation that leads to greater mutual security, which, in turn, is the prerequisite for sustainable development.
He drew attention to the fact that while a number of regional structures are facing problems of new goal-setting in a changing world, stagnation and even crisis of further development, CICA continues to grow, actively evolve and meet the challenges of our time. This was evidenced by the unanimous decision of the Member States adopted last October in Astana at the Sixth Summit on the gradual transformation of CICA into a full-fledged international organization.
There are serious grounds to believe, the Secretary General concluded, that in the foreseeable future, CICA will take a prominent place in the comprehensive security architecture of the Asian continent and the world, and will further contribute to the consolidation of the common vision of Asian states and their connectivity.
Expert of the CICA Secretariat Ambassador Doulat Kuanyshev also took part in the CAF and spoke at the session “The Future of Institutions and New Forms of Asian Institutionalization” on CICA prospects for the institutional development and its transformation into a full-fledged international organization.
Many participants of the Forum noted the special role and importance of CICA as a structure capable of making a very significant contribution to strengthening security, cooperation and sustainable development on the largest continent of our planet.
On the CAF sidelines, the CICA Secretary General met with Special Representative of the European Union (EU) for Central Asia Ms. Terhi Hakala. The EU representative showed great interest in the future of CICA, the prospects for its institutional development and transformation into a full-fledged international organization, as well as plans to strengthen connectivity in the CICA area, taking into account a similar initiative of the European Union for Asia.
Photo credit: MFA KZ
