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Dear Natalia Petkevich,
Dear Bakytzhan Sagintayev,
Colleagues, ladies and gentlemen,
First, I would like to extend my gratitude to the Republic of Belarus and the Eurasian Economic Commission for inviting me to the Fourth Eurasian Economic Forum, as well as for the excellent organization of this event and the warm hospitality in the hero city of Minsk.
The CICA Secretariat attaches great importance to further strengthening interaction between CICA and the EAEU, considering it as an important mechanism for converging economic potentials and deepening trade and economic cooperation in Eurasia. It is no coincidence that the predecessor of the EAEU, the EurAsEC, became one of the first external partners of CICA back in 2008. The relevance of such mutually beneficial cooperation was reaffirmed in October 2022, when a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the CICA Secretariat and the EEC on the sidelines of the Sixth CICA Summit in Astana. We are grateful to our colleagues for their constructive approach and willingness to develop practical cooperation between the two structures.
Dear colleagues,
The vast majority of economies in our macroregion are demonstrating steady growth, alongside the emergence of key centres of economic influence, innovation and industrial capacity. Against this background, we are witnessing the active development of integration processes in Asia and, more broadly, in Greater Eurasia, aimed at strengthening security, enhancing economic resilience and competitiveness, ensuring societal well-being and fostering the growth of human capital. As the Forum organizers rightly pointed out, each regional structure brings its own unique integration experience and solutions to achieving these shared goals.
At the same time, our vast landscape of mutually beneficial cooperation is currently facing unprecedented challenges, a crisis of multilateralism and trust. We are witnessing, in some areas, increasing fragmentation and disruption of production and logistics chains.
In these challenging circumstances, dialogue among interstate associations is especially important as an essential component of the broader effort to build a unified and indivisible space of security and cooperation in Eurasia. Here, I would like to mention the timely initiative of our Belarusian colleagues to hold the annual International Conference on Eurasian Security, in which CICA also plays an active role.
Discussions on such platforms in recent years have made it clear that true security cannot be achieved without economic and social development, addressing environmental and humanitarian challenges, and finding answers to civilizational and cultural questions. There is a growing global understanding that the achievement of sustainable development goals is key to lasting security.
In this context, CICA is viewed by its Member States as a relevant and effective pan-Asian mechanism for multilateral diplomacy. This is due, among other factors, to several key advantages: a nuanced understanding of geopolitical realities, the absence of bloc-based thinking, a low level of politicization, a pragmatic consensus-driven approach to cooperation in specific areas, and, most importantly, the genuine equality of participants. The CICA countries sometimes have diverging views on certain issues on the international agenda, however, strict adherence to these principles enables them to effectively interact and develop solutions, focusing not on what divides them but on what unites them.
Thanks to this constructive attitude, significant progress has been made in the development of CICA over the past 5 years. The historic decision of the leaders at the Sixth Summit in Astana in October 2022 to launch the transformation of CICA into a full-fledged international organization laid a solid foundation for further advancement of CICA’s strategic priorities. We have succeeded in strengthening the institutional framework for cooperation in several areas in response to the region's evolving needs, while also identifying new and relevant fields of interaction, such as ensuring epidemiological safety, enhancing information and communication technology security, promoting volunteerism and advancing educational cooperation and academic exchanges.
The first CICA Ministerial Conference on Environmental Issues in August 2024 had a high practical impact. The Ministerial Statement, as the outcome document, reflected the commitment of the Member States to cooperate in climate change mitigation, biodiversity conservation, pollution control and effective water resources management in accordance with the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement.
The launch of the CICA Fund, established in 2022 to implement development and humanitarian assistance projects, is also an important achievement. In March 2025, the first-ever project titled “Advancing Wheat Cultivation for Sustainable Development in Central Afghanistan”, proposed by Kazakhstan within the framework of the Fund, was implemented to provide agricultural assistance to 300 vulnerable Afghan farmers in Logar Province. The project was co-funded by CICA, the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency and the Islamic Organization for Food Security.
In the context of aligning economic potentials and enhancing trade and economic cooperation, I would also like to share some information about the activities of the CICA Business Council and Business Forum, which over the years have proven to be a vibrant space for building contacts, primarily between SMEs, exchanging experience and developing partnerships among government agencies, business associations, enterprises and potential investors.
A month ago, the Eighth Session of the Business Council was held in Baku, which covered issues such as digitalization for SME growth, including cross-border trade and e-commerce, the adaptation of SMEs to the green economy and their involvement in global supply chains, the contribution of SMEs to smart cities and the development of women’s entrepreneurship. The Tenth CICA Business Forum was held back-to-back, with approximately 220 participants in attendance.
The e‑book project entitled “SME Landscape in Asia: Interactive Guidebook” was also presented there. The compilation, initiated by the CICA Secretariat, highlights regional economic trends, investment opportunities and success stories of SMEs from various Member States. This is a digital tool designed to support aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners across the CICA region. It provides clear and actionable insights from navigating business registration to exploring financing.
Distinguished delegates,
From 2024 to 2026, CICA is chaired by Azerbaijan, a country with extensive experience in leading major global platforms and a strong commitment to multilateral diplomacy and building bridges in the international arena. Guided by the theme “Stronger CICA, connectivity, digitalization and sustainable growth in Asia”, the Azerbaijani Chairmanship is focusing on three priorities: transforming CICA into a full-fledged international organization, ensuring the effective implementation of confidence building measures and strengthening synergies and interaction with other international and regional platforms.
Focusing on the practical implementation of institutionalized cooperation, over the next two years, CICA will prioritize cross-sectoral interaction in areas ranging from youth and scientific community engagement to strengthening its economic dimension, with particular emphasis on digitalization, climate, agriculture, cultural heritage preservation, cultural exchanges and cybersecurity.
Building on the achievements of previous Chairmanships of Türkiye, China, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan, Baku is committed to unlocking CICA’s potential to develop sustainable transport corridors and enhance the connectivity of our vast region. In particular, efforts are ongoing to institutionalize dialogue between transport agencies, an initiative put forward in 2022 by President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who proposed to create a Council on Sustainable Connectivity.
This initiative seeks to develop an interconnected and efficient transport and logistics infrastructure, including integrating various transport, energy, trade and communication networks; promote investment and tourism; create conditions for access to markets, resources and technologies; improve logistics efficiency and support social development by creating additional jobs.
Further evidence of the relevance of this issue for many countries of our organization was provided by the Conference on the Development of the Transport and Logistics Potential of the CICA Member States “Intermodal transportation as a factor in ensuring the economic growth of the CICA Member States”, organized by Russia this May on the sidelines of the Russia – Islamic World Forum. In turn, the Azerbaijani Chairmanship has proposed to hold a meeting of the port administrations of CICA countries, as well as a conference on the digitalization of transport corridors among CICA Member States.
In addition, CICA intends to contribute to the efforts aimed at reforming the global financial and economic system. Work is underway to institutionalize financial cooperation within CICA, which will contribute to economic recovery, sustainable and inclusive development, and the creation of favourable conditions for business and regional trade, including through the broader use of national currencies in mutual settlements.
One of the innovations of the Azerbaijani Chairmanship is the establishment of a CICA Women Council, which would promote the development of women’s entrepreneurship, facilitate women’s access to labour markets and financial resources, introduce sustainable business practices and more.
Last but not least, the priorities of the current CICA Chairmanship are consistent with the synergy among regional mechanisms. With its extensive geographical coverage, eventful agenda and diverse array of instruments, CICA is well positioned to consolidate the collective wisdom of Asian countries and serve as a bridge between various organizations, sharing their best practices and solutions, fostering greater cooperation and enhancing coordination, including for the benefit of the entire Eurasian region.
Dear friends,
I am convinced that such events are extremely valuable for maintaining regular dialogue between regional organizations and the leadership of their executive bodies. Such coordination meets the interests of our Member States and seeks to find common ground and complementarity in addressing the shared social, economic and environmental challenges facing our continent. I hope that today’s discussion, with such a representative group of participants, will serve as another important step in this direction.
Thank you for your attention.
