Kazakhstan assumes CICA chairmanship

NUR-SULTAN, September 24, 2020 - A meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the member states of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA), chaired by Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan Mukhtar Tileuberdi, was held in the format of a video conference.

The main goal of the meeting was the transfer of the chairmanship of the CICA from the Republic of Tajikistan to the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Tileuberdi presented the vision and priorities of Kazakhstan as the Chair of the CICA in 2020-2022. He emphasized that the idea of the First President of Kazakhstan, Leader of the Nation Nursultan Nazarbayev, to convene the CICA, first announced at the 47th session of the UN General Assembly in 1992, initiated the formation of a new format of cooperation in the field of building confidence and security in Asia.

Further institutionalization of the Meeting will be one of the main priorities of the chairmanship of Kazakhstan, which will enable the expansion of cooperation between the member states, as well as raise the Forum's status in the international arena.

At the same time, our country intends to promote the initiatives of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, voiced during the Dushanbe Summit in June 2019, on the establishment of the CICA Council of Wise Men, the CICA Fund and the transformation of the CICA Think Tank Forum into a permanent platform.

The Minister emphasized that the Kazakh chairmanship intends to strengthen work on the practical implementation of the CICA Catalog of Confidence Building Measures, as well as expand external relations with other regional organizations and forums.

During the ministerial meeting, the heads of foreign agencies unanimously approved the candidacy of the Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to Austria Kairat Sarybai for the post of Executive Director of the CICA Secretariat.

In addition, the heads of the member states held a constructive exchange of views on the most pressing issues of the international and regional agenda. In particular they discussed the issues of interaction between the CICA member states in the context of a pandemic and the prospects for cooperation in the post-coronavirus period.

The participants noted the importance of intensifying cooperation within the framework of the Conference and expressed their intention to intensify interaction to strengthen peace, security and prosperity in Asia during the period of Kazakhstan's chairmanship in the Forum.

The main goal of the CICA is to strive to create an effective and acceptable structure for ensuring peace and security in Asia.

To date, 27 states are members of the CICA. 8 countries and 5 international organizations participate as observers. The CICA Secretariat is located in Nur-Sultan.