19 June 2025 – Secretary General of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) Ambassador Kairat Sarybay addressed via a video message the participants of the International Conference “Central Asia – the Core of the SCO: 25 Years of Cooperation for Joint Development”, which was held in Dushanbe.
In his statement, the Secretary General stressed that for decades, CICA and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), operating within a shared regional space, have been fostering positive interaction based on similar objectives and areas of cooperation. According to him, this experience can serve as an example for other organizations operating in the region.
Ambassador Sarybay noted that both organizations share approaches to key challenges of our time, especially in the field of security. These include the settlement of regional conflicts, the strengthening of the non-proliferation regime and joint efforts against the threats of terrorism, extremism, transnational crime, illicit drug and arms trafficking.
Special attention was paid to the potential of economic cooperation in the interests of sustainable development. The development of transport corridors and multimodal transportation, digitalization and information and communication technologies, food security, tourism, as well as humanitarian, cultural and educational cooperation were highlighted as promising areas.
The Secretary General stressed that CICA and the SCO are complementary formats of regional interaction, the combination of which opens up significant opportunities for solving common issues. Enhancing synergy between the two organizations is considered one of the priorities of Azerbaijan’s CICA Chairmanship, reflecting the desire to strengthen the principles of multilateralism and promote a collective approach to global and regional challenges.
Official partnership relations between CICA and the SCO were established in 2014 with the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Secretariats of the two organizations. In 2017, this cooperation was further reinforced by the signing of the Protocol on Cooperation between the CICA Secretariat and the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure (RATS).
