Xi’an, 23-24 September 2025 - CICA Regional Tourism Cooperation Conference was held on the margins of the 2025 Euro-Asia Economic Forum in Xi'an, China, jointly by the Secretariat of CICA, the Secretariat of the Forum and local municipal authorities. The event gathered more than 400 government officials, experts and business leaders from China and delegates from Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and other CICA countries.
During this two-day event, speakers from government agencies, academia, various institutions and businesses presented their insights on the role of tourism in promoting economic growth and culture exchanges, as well as their thoughts on new ways of advancing the tourism industry. The first day of the Conference featured welcoming speeches and presentations made by China's local municipal authorities and various leaders from the tourism sector.
In the opening ceremony, CICA Deputy Secretary General Ms. Zhang Ling briefed the audience on the Chairmanship’s initiatives and the past record of Member State’s implementation of CBMs in the area of tourism, as well as some events and projects of the Secretariat. She emphasized that tourism is one of the important priority areas of CBM implementation and closely linked with CICA’s wider connectivity agenda alongside trade, transport, investment, and cultural diplomacy. The CICA Secretariat also made a presentation of CICA’s history, current standing, including its institutional capabilities and CBM implementation, and some plans for the future.
Speakers from China outlined ways to apply innovative approaches and cutting-edge technologies to preserve the rich cultural heritage, presented some fulfilled projects featuring road trips across the archeological sites of the Great Silk Road and other places in the CICA region
Representing the CICA Chairmanship, the Head of Regional Tourism Department at the State Tourism Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mr. Elgun Javadov presented the Circular Green Tourism initiative, highlighting its purpose of advancing collaborative approaches to sustainable tourism in the CICA region and “strengthening tourism cooperation in ways that deliver real and lasting benefits”. He called for tourism to serve “as a bridge of trust, a platform for innovation, and a lasting investment in peace and prosperity across our region.”
Representing Kazakhstan as CICA’s initiator and host country, Consul General in Xi’an Mr. Zhoshykhan Kyraubaev outlined CICA’s achievements during the Chairmanship of Kazakhstan. He highlighted the growth of Kazakhstan’s trade with other CICA Member States and growing number of tourists visiting the country. The Consul General informed of President Tokayev’s task on boosting the tourism sector, in connection with Kazakhstan’s priorities on digitalization and some of Kazakh-Chinese joint projects in this area.
On September 24, delegates from CICA Member States and representatives of various tourism sectors of China engaged in a series of extensive panel discussions about integrating culture and tourism in the CICA region, exploring new pathways for cultivating talents in this area, as well as promoting inbound tourism and expanding international tourism market.
In particular, Ms. Saima Shahin Sultana, Chairman of Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (Government Tourism Organization), Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism presented her country’s vast tourist potential, outlined existing challenges and informed of the government’s policies to address these challenges, including measures to attract investment into this sector. Advisor to the Chairman of Tourism Committee, Ministry of Ecology of Uzbekistan, Mr. Feruz Dodiyev briefed the audience on the country’s efforts and achievements in strengthening connectivity with China and other countries of the region by introducing visa-free regimes, expanding the geography of direct flights, and holding dedicated presentations of tourism potentials of the region’s countries. Dr. Amina Musarova, expert on foreign policy issues from the National Institute for Strategic Studies under the President of Kyrgyzstan focused on ways to reinforce inbound tourism and expanding transit tourist markets across the CICA region, proposing some solutions to address the existing challenges in this area, such as fostering synergies between tourism and sports, education, developing smart tourism and capacity building.
A team of experts from the School of Tourism, Xi'an International Studies University presented a Research Report on Sustainable Tourism Development in the CICA Region.
The 2025 Euro-Asia Economic Forum, which provided a platform for this CICA event, marked its 20th anniversary and reported a number of achievements in transport connectivity and other crucial areas of Eurasian regional cooperation. This year, the Forum gathered over 2200 delegates from the countries of the region.
