President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev took part in the VI CICA summit

The VI summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia started under the chairmanship of the Head of State Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

In his speech, the Kazakh president thanked the leaders of the member states of the summit and noted that this year marks the 30th anniversary of the initiative to convene the summit. During this period, CICA has become a platform for multilateral cooperation and an international institution of modern diplomacy. The Head of State separately welcomed Kuwait, which joined the CICA.

Special attention in the speech was paid to the geopolitical situation on the planet.

- Today we are living in an unprecedented geopolitical storm and a growing crisis of the world economy. This phenomenon has already been called "global disfunction". Since the last CICA summit in 2019, the global community has experienced severe trials, the negative consequences of which continue to affect global development. In my view, a particularly important challenge before us is to achieve sustainability in international relations in the face of emerging unprecedented threats. It is critically important to give a new impetus to multilateral mechanisms and to return to open dialogue, - said the President of Kazakhstan.

According to him, Asia has made a huge contribution to the development of human civilization. For several millennia, the states of our macro-region have been the main driving force behind the social, cultural, and technological progress of all humankind.

- The prediction that the twenty-first century will be the century of Asia is now a reality. Asia has become a recognized global economic leader in terms of nominal GDP and purchasing power parity. The region possesses significant human and natural resources. Twenty-one of the world's 30 largest cities are located in Asia. Of all the estimated $30 trillion growth in middle-class consumption by 2030, only $1 trillion is expected to come from Western economies. But the future of Asia itself depends on our collective willingness to strengthen dialogue among cultures, traditions and worldviews. I am confident that the steps taken to develop CICA are consistent with this goal, - said Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

According to him, Kazakhstan, as the Chairman of the Meeting, aims to increase efforts to further advance the CICA process. Last year, the CICA Confidence Building Measures Catalog was revised to include new priority areas of cooperation, such as epidemiological security, health and pharmaceuticals, and information and communication technology security.

- The CICA Think Tank Forum will serve as a universal platform for experts and specialists from across Asia to exchange experiences and ideas and implement joint research projects. This year, the CICA Business Council and Business Forum were held in Astana, as well as the Fifth Meeting of the CICA Youth Council. Today the CICA Foundation will be established. Its purpose is to create a special mechanism for selection of CICA projects and collection of voluntary funds for their implementation. The number of observers and partners is also growing. Turkmenistan has joined CICA as an observer. Decisions were made to establish cooperation with the Eurasian Economic Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), - said the Head of State.

As Kassym-Jomart Tokayev emphasized, Kazakhstan has identified a number of ambitious priorities for its chairmanship, based on the transformation of CICA into a full-fledged international organization.

- The maturity and effectiveness of CICA as a regional platform for political dialogue serves as a starting point for its further transformation. Member States have repeatedly discussed and in principle agree that CICA is already functioning de facto as an organization. I would like to stress that we are not creating a new organization, but are moving to a new stage of institutional development. Raising the status of the Meeting will strengthen Asia's increased role in world affairs and will bring interaction among member states to a new level, - said the President of Kazakhstan.

He expressed his gratitude to all CICA member states that have supported Kazakhstan's bid for a new chairmanship term in 2022-2024. The Head of State said that our country sets itself serious goals and counts on close cooperation and support of the member states.

- First, the economic dimension. I consider the decision to establish the CICA Council for Sustainable Interconnectivity to be timely. The disruptions in global supply chains force us to take a fresh look at the formation of efficient transit-transport corridors. Convenient and accessible routes for transporting goods are an important factor in the sustainable growth of our economies. It is important to focus on realization of transit-transport potential by developing diversified routes of communication and cargo delivery, - said Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

In addition, the President proposed transforming the CICA Finance Summit into a permanent forum. He believes that this initiative of the PRC is of great importance for enhancing cooperation among CICA member states in the area of finance. The transformation will contribute to economic recovery, sustainable and inclusive development, and create favorable conditions for regional and sub-regional financial cooperation within the framework of the Meeting.

Special attention in the speech of the Head of State was paid to the environmental dimension.

- Climate change leads to natural disasters that have become increasingly unpredictable and catastrophic. In 2021, 57 million people in Asia were affected by them. By 2050, Asian economies could suffer up to 26% of GDP from such natural disasters. The recent massive flooding in Pakistan was a massive humanitarian disaster. In these difficult times, we reaffirm our solidarity with the people and government of Pakistan. The climate crisis could lead to military conflicts and become a catalyst for huge and uncontrollable migration flows. The decarbonization of the economy is an issue of utmost urgency for Asia. To solve this problem, unprecedented amounts of investment are needed. In a month, Egypt will host the COP27 Climate Conference. I also propose to hold a High Level Conference in 2024 in Astana on environmental issues in CICA countries. The results of this conference may become the basis for the establishment of the CICA Council for Cooperation in the field of ecology, - said the President of Kazakhstan.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev pointed to the need for a truly working mechanism to ensure food security in the CICA space.

- Asia produces two-thirds of the world's agricultural products, but remains vulnerable in this area. We need to develop unified approaches to assessing compliance of important products with national standards, as well as to create "green corridors" between CICA member states for this category of products. It seems promising to establish cooperation between CICA and the Islamic Organization for Food Security, headquartered in Astana. Given the agricultural potential of our countries, we could take measures to provide needy countries with food and fertilizers, - said the Head of State.

In addition, the President of Kazakhstan considers an important priority to focus on the human dimension, the preservation and development of human resources.

- The successful meeting of the Youth Council in Astana in July this year testifies to the great prospects for interaction in this direction. In this regard, I propose to hold the meeting of leaders of volunteer movements of CICA countries under the auspices of the Youth Council in Astana in 2024. Creation of the Partner Network of leading universities of CICA member countries opens great prospects. Through this network it would be possible to exchange developments in innovative areas, such as the IT sphere, nanotechnology and renewable energy, - summed up his speech Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

He reaffirmed that Kazakhstan is committed to the further development of CICA, and expressed confidence that the Meeting, given its unique format and geography, has serious prospects and a great future.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres addressed a video message to the participants of the Sixth CICA Summit. Then President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, President of Iran Ibrahim Raisi, President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov, Prime Minister of Pakistan Shahbaz Sharif, President of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas, President of Russia Vladimir Putin, President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Vice President of China Wang Qishan, Vice President of Vietnam Vo Thi Anh Xuan and also President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko delivered their speeches.