Special Working Group (SWG) of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) held its regular meeting in Almaty, Republic of Kazakhstan on 21-22 January 2010 followed by meeting of Senior Officials Committee (SOC) on 23 January 2010.

During the meetings Mr. Dulat Bakishev, Executive Director of the CICA Secretariat reported on developments after the meetings of the SWG and SOC in Beijing, People’s Republic of China in October 2009.

One of main issues on the agenda of the meetings was consideration of implementation of Confidence Building Measures. Member States coordinating implementation of confidence building measures in different areas made reports on the progress in the implementation process. Upon recommendation of Special Working Group, Senior Officials Committee approved Concept Paper and Action Plan for implementation of confidence building measures in the area of Energy Security Cooperation. It is expected that the actual implementation process in this area will commence soon.

             Republic of Turkey announced that the Third CICA Summit will be held in Istanbul on 8 June 2010. The Summit will be preceded by an informal side event on 7 June 2010 in which representatives of the OSCE Secretariat, OSCE Troika and Foreign Ministers of CICA Member States as well as those of the OSCE Asian Partners for Cooperation would be invited.

During the meetings of Special Working Group and Senior Officials Committee, the Member States reaffirmed their commitment to implementation of Confidence Building Measures and take other steps aimed at strengthening of peace, stability and security in Asia.

         Republic of Azerbaijan announced that it would host the next meetings of Special Working Group and Senior Officials Committee in Baku in March 2010.