Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan takes part in CICA informal ministerial meeting

NEW YORK, September 23, 2019 — An informal meeting of foreign ministers of the member states of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) was held as part of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly.

The meeting participants discussed the results of the 5th CICA Summit held last June in Dushanbe, the final declaration of which reflected the positions and views of the Conference members on basic issues of security and cooperation in Asia, as well as the personal role of the First President of Kazakhstan, Elbasy Nursultan Nazarbayev, as the founder of the CICA, and his significant contribution in building capacity of the meeting.

Particular attention was paid to the upcoming chairmanship of Kazakhstan in the CICA. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, Mukhtar Tleuberdi, expressed gratitude to the CICA member states for their unanimous support for Kazakhstan’s application for the chairmanship for 2020-2022.

The heads of delegations congratulated Kazakhstan as the next CICA Chair and noted the leading role of our country in the development of collaboration within the framework of the Meeting.

In his speech, the Minister shared his vision on the CICA’s development and the priorities that Kazakhstan will focus on during the chairmanship of the Forum. Among them is the consistent institutional development of the CICA, the substantive content of the Forum's activities within the framework of the Catalogue of Confidence Building Measures, as well as further strengthening of interaction with other international and regional institutions.

The high relevance of the CICA was noted, given the current challenges and its importance as an effective platform for regional cooperation to strengthen security and connectivity in Asia, which has enormous economic and human potential.

On October 5, 1992, the First President of Kazakhstan, Elbasy N. Nazarbayev, initiated the convening of the CICA, which is an interstate forum for dialogue, consultation, decision-making and implementation of measures based on consensus in security issues in Asia. Today, 27 Asian states are members of the CICA, while 8 countries and 5 international organizations are observers.