Secretary General of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) Ambassador Kairat Sarybay was received by President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to report on the progress in the implementation of the outcomes of the Sixth CICA Summit held in Astana on 13 October 2022, including the strategic priority of the Kazakh Chairmanship on the transformation of the organization.
The Secretary General informed the President about the achievement of the priority goals of the Kazakh Chairmanship for 2020-2022 and the fulfilment of the Summit’s instructions to develop a Road Map for CICA Transformation. This document was agreed upon by the senior officials of CICA Member States on 22 August 2023 and, after formal endorsement by the CICA Ministerial Council in September this year, will become the agenda of specific reforms needed to adapt CICA to the new global role of Asia.
Ambassador Sarybay also provided detailed information on the activities of the permanent institutions of the organization, including the plan for the upcoming meetings of the Ministerial Council, the Business Council, the Youth Council and the Think Tank Forum.
Particular attention was paid to the implementation of the priorities of the Kazakh Chairmanship for 2022-2024, including new promising areas for the development of CICA that were initiated by President Tokayev at the Sixth Summit: creating the CICA Council on Sustainable Connectivity, institutionalization of the CICA Finance Summit, holding a High-level CICA Environmental Conference, establishing a Partnership Network of Leading Universities of the CICA Countries, holding a Rally of Volunteer Movement Leaders.
The President of Kazakhstan noted with satisfaction the success of CICA in implementing the strategic priority of transformation and the progress in promoting new initiatives of the Kazakh Chairmanship.
The Head of State also highlighted the increased visibility of CICA and supported the events attended by the diplomatic corps in Astana.
The Secretary General expressed his gratitude to the President of Kazakhstan for pursuing a wise foreign policy that promotes the "spirit of Asia" and for the constant support of CICA in a bilateral format and at major fora, which was reflected in two dozen international documents.
