Baku, 17 December 2024 – The Seventh Meeting of the Ministerial Council (MC) of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA), hosted online by Azerbaijan, took stock of CICA achievements under the leadership of Astana and welcomed the handover of the CICA Chairmanship in the next biennium from Kazakhstan to Azerbaijan.
In his opening address, Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Murat Nurtleu highlighted key accomplishments of the four-year-long Kazakh Chairmanship, such as institutional reforms to drive CICA’s effectiveness and resilience, expanding the CICA Catalogue of Confidence Building Measures (CBMs), launching three new standing bodies (Council of Eminent Persons, Think Tank Forum, CICA Fund), beginning the drafting of the CICA Charter and updated Rules of Procedure, as well as amending the CICA Host Country Agreement to strengthen the CICA Secretariat’s international status.
The outgoing Kazakh Chair emphasized: “We held over 170 events covering all five CICA dimensions, including the inaugural Ministerial Conference on Environmental Issues and Rally of Volunteer Movement Leaders. Today we will launch the Partnership Network of Leading Universities as yet another Kazakh initiative.” “We are pleased to note that practically all priorities outlined under the Kazakh Chairmanship have been successfully implemented” – concluded the outgoing Chair. (The detailed Kazakh Chairmanship’s report on 2020-2024 achievements of CICA is available here. A short film on the evolution of CICA from 1992 to date can be found here).
Minister Murat Nurtleu stated: “Transforming CICA into a full-fledged organization for security and development cooperation will bolster its role in addressing 21st century challenges. Therefore, we need to invest not only in human resources and funds, but also confidence in CICA as one of the pillars for shaping a future configuration of pan-Asian security architecture.” Noting CICA’s capacity to promote partnerships and mutual respect, he stressed that “global challenges can be most effectively addressed by fully utilizing potential of multilateral fora and exclusively through diplomatic solutions.” Minister Nurtleu further emphasized CICA’s potential to become a catalyst for improving connectivity and logistics, to tackle issues of climate change and water-energy-food security, and to act as a platform for sharing technological advancements and addressing challenges of the digital age.
The new CICA Chair, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov, expressed appreciation to Kazakhstan for its invaluable contribution to the development of the organization and to all Member States for entrusting the role of CICA Chair to Azerbaijan. He stressed that Azerbaijan is strongly committed to promoting peace, security, stability and prosperity in Asia. Minister Bayramov stated that “Azerbaijan’s CICA Chairmanship comes at a pivotal moment not only in CICA’s history but also in the evolving geopolitical and economic landscape of Asia and the world”, adding that “CICA, as the region's most inclusive platform for dialogue, is uniquely positioned to foster this cooperation and address the challenges we face”.
He further noted that the CICA Chairmanship of Azerbaijan will be grounded in the theme of “Stronger CICA, Connectivity, Digitalization and Sustainable Growth in Asia” and will prioritize three overarching issues: (1) CICA’s transformation and institutional development, (2) sectoral cooperation through implementation of CBMs and (3) promoting synergy between CICA and other international and regional organizations. Minister Bayramov underlined that Azerbaijan's Chairmanship marked a moment of opportunity and responsibility and is oriented to making impact on security, development and well-being of our states and population through stronger CICA.
CICA Secretary General Ambassador Kairat Sarybay reported to the MC on the activities of the CICA Secretariat since the 2022 CICA Summit, highlighting the special focus on fulfilling the strategic tasks set by the Summit in the Astana Statement on CICA Transformation, and significant analytical and expert assistance to the Chairmanship in developing and implementing the transformation roadmap. The Secretary General also provided an account of the CICA Secretariat’s support to the work of CICA governing and advisory bodies and implementation of CICA CBMs, and reported on the organization’s external cooperation and financial and human resources.
The main political outcome of the meeting was the adoption of the MC Statement on the 25th Anniversary of the Declaration on the Principles Guiding Relations among the CICA Member States. In the statement, the CICA Member States reaffirmed their commitment to all principles enshrined in this founding document of the organization adopted on 14 September 1999 in Almaty at the First CICA Ministerial Meeting.
The ministerial statement also declared the CICA Member States’ strong resolve to further enhance their cooperation within CICA and their pledge to work together to ensure that CICA remains a relevant and effective platform for addressing the challenges of the twenty first century. As stated by the new CICA Chair, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov, “the adoption of this significant political statement reflects our unity and demonstrates the strength of the CICA spirit”.
Another key result of the MC meeting was the adoption of the updated CICA Catalogue of CBMs – the main CICA document guiding the core area of operational activities of the organization since 2004. The Member States included a new CBM within the human dimension on promoting volunteerism as an important aspect of civic engagement, and adopted a comprehensive document on modalities of CBM implementation, which will significantly enhance their effectiveness and practical impact. These decisions, along with the most recent update of the Catalogue in 2021, are considered a breakthrough in CICA confidence building activities and another evidence of CICA’s growing relevance for its Member States.
Last but not least, the MC adopted the Memorandum on Establishment of the Partnership Network of Leading Universities of the CICA Member States (PNLU). This new CICA mechanism is designed to facilitate cooperation in the education field and academic and scientific exchanges between Member States, and thereby further advance CICA human dimension activities. The proposal to establish the PNLU was put forward by President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in 2022. To date, 175 universities from CICA Member States expressed intention to join the network.
Members of the MC held an extensive exchange of views on the prospects for further institutional development of CICA, welcomed the first practical outcomes on the path of CICA transformation, appreciated the role of Kazakhstan as the initiator of CICA, its host country, the driver of the transformation process and outgoing Chair, and expressed full support to the incoming Chairmanship of Azerbaijan.
About CICA
Established in 1992 at the initiative of Kazakhstan, CICA is a pan-Asian intergovernmental organization with 28 Member States covering 90% of Asia’s territory, aimed at enhancing peace, security and prosperity in Asia through multilateral dialogue, CBMs and other forms of cooperation.
The Declaration on the Principles Guiding Relations among the CICA Member States and the Almaty Act (adopted at the First CICA Summit in Almaty on 4 June 2002) are the two founding documents of CICA. The Declaration established the eight fundamental principles of CICA: sovereign equality, respect for the rights inherent in sovereignty; refraining from the threat or use of force; territorial integrity of the Member States; peaceful settlement of disputes; non-interference in internal affairs; disarmament and arms control; economic, social and cultural cooperation; and human rights and fundamental freedoms.
The CICA Catalogue of CBMs sets five dimensions of cooperation with 18 priority areas: military-political dimension; new challenges and threats (combating terrorism, ICT security, combating illicit drugs, epidemiological safety, public health and pharmaceuticals); economic dimension (small and medium enterprises (SME) development, energy security, information technology, tourism, secure transportation corridors, agriculture, finance, trade and investment); environmental dimension (sustainable development, natural disaster management, environmental protection); and human dimension.
The CICA Ministerial Council (MC) is the second highest governing body of CICA after the CICA Summit, responsible for the implementation of Summit decisions, considering current CICA activities and all issues submitted to it by the CICA Senior Officials Committee (SOC), carrying out high-level consultations and taking decisions on key issues on CICA agenda.
One Member State at a time carries out the role of CICA Chairmanship which is responsible for the coordination and communication on current CICA activities. Rotation or extension of Chairmanship terms takes place every two years at regular Summit or MC meetings. The CICA Secretary General is the Chief Executive Officer of the organization and the CICA Secretariat is its permanent executive body located in Astana.
CICA has the following permanent advisory bodies and mechanisms of cooperation:
– CICA Business Council (established in 2014): for facilitating economic cooperation among CICA Member States, in particular in the SME sector, trade and investment, and providing a platform for dialogue between the private sector and state bodies of CICA Member States;
– CICA Youth Council (established in 2014): for coordinating activities of its member youth organizations, associations and movements of CICA Member States, consisting of two representatives from each Member State and representatives of the Secretariat;
– CICA Think Tank Forum (institutionalized in 2021): an information and analytical advisory body for the provision of information and analytical support to CICA activities and to promote interaction among think tanks and research institutions of CICA Member States;
– CICA Council of Eminent Persons (established in 2021): to provide high-level recommendations on a wide range of issues of interaction and development of CICA, including strengthening of peace and security, implementation of CBMs, further directions and priorities of CICA activities;
– CICA Fund (established in 2022): a special mechanism for identification of CICA projects and mobilization of voluntary funding for their implementation, with the main objective of facilitating practical implementation of CICA goals by financing project activities within the mandate and framework of CICA.
– CICA Partnership Network of Leading Universities (established on 17 December 2024): network of leading universities of CICA Member States to promote scientific cooperation and academic exchange of students and faculty members, implementation of joint scientific, research and educational activities, events, programmes and projects.
CICA transformation: the Sixth CICA Summit in Astana on 13 October 2022 adopted the Astana Statement on CICA Transformation, which launched “the structured, inclusive and transparent negotiations process of gradual, incremental and consensus-based transformation of CICA into a full-fledged regional international organization.”
The CICA MC Meeting on 21 September 2023 in New York endorsed the Road Map for CICA Transformation with eight clusters of reforms, including elaboration of a charter of the organization, exploring new areas of cooperation and improving CBM implementation, updating the CICA Rules of Procedure and Guidelines for CICA’s External Relations, defining the role of the Secretary General and international status of the Secretariat, as well as budget and human resources management reforms.
