Excellencies,
Esteemed Ministers and representatives of ECO Member States, Observers and international organizations,
Distinguished participants,
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is an honour and privilege for me to address the 26th ECO Council of Ministers Meeting in the beautiful city of Tashkent.
I am delighted to extend my sincere congratulations to the host, the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan for organizing this important Ministerial Meeting. I also express gratitude for the invitation to participate in the meeting and for the warm welcome and kind hospitality.
Asia is a diverse region in terms of the concentration of peoples, natural resources, old history, rich civilizations, culture, etc. At the same time, Asia has traditionally been subject to global and regional power games. Geopolitics and geo-economics are manifesting in multiple dimensions and generating competition, conflict and cooperation, all unfolding at the same time.
Asia has enormous potential to settle misunderstandings among countries and improve the quality of intergovernmental relations. In fulfilling this objective, international regional organizations can play a significant role in maintaining peace, security, stability and prosperity in the region.
Over the decades, the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) has played a commendable role in building confidence between countries of our large and diverse continent on a wide range of issues. ECO has been constantly striving to create a conducive environment for the economic development, regional integration and prosperity. CICA highly appreciates the active engagement and commitment of ECO to playing a continued constructive role in the promotion of regional peace and economic development.
It is particularly important for CICA, as many CICA countries are also Member States of ECO. There is greater coherence and synergy of principles between CICA & ECO. There are also common areas of activities such as trade, economy, transport, connectivity, energy, tourism, etc., which both organizations have in their respective priority areas.
One of the important priorities of CICA is to achieve enhanced regional growth and development through cooperation and connectivity. It is evident that the COVID-19 pandemic had drastically disrupted the global supply chain. This unfortunate experience underpinned the geopolitical significance of connectivity in world politics. The link between geopolitics and connectivity becomes obvious. Navigating the new geopolitics of connectivity towards the economic development and prosperity of Asia is our priority.
In his remarks at the Sixth CICA Summit, President Tokayev of Kazakhstan, the current Chair, has proposed the idea of establishing the CICA Council on Sustainable Connectivity. Convenient and accessible routes for transporting goods are an important factor in the sustainable growth of our economies. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention towards the development of diversified routes of communications and transportation. It is very encouraging that the theme of the Azerbaijan Presidency in ECO for 2023 is “Green Transition & Interconnectivity”. It is high time to jointly collaborate among the regional organizations to take forward the connectivity initiatives to achieve tangible benefits for Asia. CICA can serve as an appropriate outreach platform for ECO connectivity projects.
CICA will continue to support and promote constructive cooperation in compliance with its principles and objectives, for enhancing cooperation towards promoting peace, security and stability in Asia. CICA, as a multilateral mechanism, provides a suitable framework to enhance our cooperation, and harness our collective efforts to address the myriad challenges our countries are grappling with.
CICA highly values its relations with ECO. I would like to, once again, express my appreciation to the Government of Uzbekistan and the ECO Secretariat for successfully organizing this important meeting.
It is my sincere belief and hope that the 26th ECO Council of Ministers Meeting and the future CICA’s meetings and our efforts in advancing interests and addressing common challenges will significantly contribute to strengthening security, cooperation and development in our respective areas of activity and responsibility.
Thank you!
Tashkent, 24 January 2023
