*перевод
Excellencies,
Distinguished colleagues, ladies and gentlemen,
I am most honoured to take part in the 80th-anniversary session of ESCAP, centred around the role of digital innovation for sustainable development in Asia and the Pacific.
I would also like to extend my sincere gratitude to Tajikistan for inviting the ministers of the participating countries of the UN Special Programme for the Economies of Central Asia to this meeting.
Central Asia is undeniably a crucial region for the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia, which I currently have the honour to lead. It is noteworthy that Kazakhstan, which chaired the Conference from its inception until 2010, and also from 2020 to 2024, initiated CICA. Furthermore, Tajikistan was at the helm of CICA from 2018 to 2020, and this autumn, the chairmanship will transition from Kazakhstan to Azerbaijan. I believe that all of this demonstrates the commitment of the Central Asian countries to the principles of multilateral diplomacy and their aspiration to maximize the potential and synergy of various regional platforms, including SPECA and CICA, for the sake of stable and sustainable development in the region.
CICA is one of the largest interstate fora in Asia, often described as a unique pan-Asian platform for consolidating the collective wisdom of the region's countries in the interests of peace, cooperation, development and security. CICA can also be viewed as an effective tool to better integrate its participants into the global security architecture and multilateral decision-making processes.
In this context, the process of transforming CICA into a full-fledged international organization, launched following the Sixth CICA Summit in October 2022, is of particular importance. As one of the key priorities of the current Kazakh Chairmanship, the transformation aims to strengthen the authority and visibility of our forum and enhance its role in the regional and, overall, global architecture of security and sustainable development.
CICA's current efforts are largely focused on the implementation of the Catalogue of Confidence Building Measures, a distinctive document in the history of Asian diplomacy, which defines 18 priority areas of interaction grouped into 5 dimensions. The most comprehensive dimension among these is the economic one. Within this dimension, Member States work in areas such as the development of small and medium enterprises, the development of secure and effective systems of transportation corridors, agriculture, energy security, finance, trade and investment, and information technology. Moreover, environment protection and sustainable development constitute integral components of our interaction. All of these aspects, to differing extents, resonate with the SPECA agenda, thereby allowing us to perceive CICA as an outreach platform to promote and secure the interests of the SPECA states.
With this in mind, it is important to note the substantial applied component of CICA's work. This, first of all, includes the systemic efforts of its permanent institutions – the Youth and Business Councils, the Council of Eminent Persons and the Think Tank Forum. The CICA Fund, a special mechanism for fundraising, project identification and implementation, was established in 2022. The purpose of the Fund is to allocate resources to facilitate the practical implementation of CICA's goals by financing development project activities within the mandate of CICA. The specific project needs of individual states and subregional associations like SPECA are of particular interest for the effective utilization of the Fund.
Considering the agenda for today's meeting, I would also like to highlight the following points.
CICA places considerable emphasis on synergies between government and business efforts to achieve sustainable development goals and build a sustainable economy. In the last two years, the CICA Business Council's agenda has been filled with topics such as the digitalization of business processes in SMEs, food security, renewable energy and green finance. This year's CICA Business Council, together with the CICA Business Forum, is expected to be held in Bishkek in the fourth quarter and focused on aspects such as sustainable SME development, the use of artificial intelligence for SME development and the enhancement of cross-border trade through digital solutions.
Moreover, to address the current challenges of global supply chains, the establishment of the CICA Council on Sustainable Connectivity is being explored under Kazakhstan's leadership. Depending on the approaches of Member States, the Council's mandate may prioritize transport routes and various aspects of logistics, including digitalization, or it may cover sustainable development, renewable energy and economic sustainability.
I would also like to announce a specialized CICA ministerial meeting to be held in Astana in August of this year and dedicated to environmental matters. This initiative is being spearheaded by President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. One of the main issues for discussion will be the prospect of institutionalizing cooperation among Member States in the environmental field.
I would also like to take this opportunity to invite you, distinguished colleagues, to the CICA-ESCAP side event on the role of regional partnerships in leveraging digital innovation for sustainable development in Asia and the Pacific. The event will be held tomorrow, on 24 April, from 12:45 to 14:00, in Conference Room 3.
Thank you for your attention.
Bangkok, 23 April 2024
