Ladies and gentlemen,
Dear participants of the 11th Meeting of the CICA Think Tank Forum,
It is a great pleasure to address you in person, here in Xining, and I wish you a successful meeting. I sincerely thank the Government of China and the Province of Qinghai and the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies for traditional hospitality and strong commitment to strengthening dialogue among think tanks of CICA Member States for the benefit of the peoples of Asia.
The theme of our meeting, “Building an Asia of Mutual Learning and Win-Win Cooperation: the Role and Mission of CICA”, perfectly captures the main thrust of the CICA spirit - bringing peace and prosperity to all nations of Asia through building dialogue, trust and mutually beneficial cooperation, while making best use of Asia’ main strength – diversity.
Over the next two days we will be talking about the role and mission of CICA. To set a stage for these discussions, I will focus my opening remarks on the current state of affairs in CICA.
Asia is rapidly evolving into the main driver of international development of the 21st century, both in terms of its economic potential and impact on world politics.
Asia must and will inevitably become a strong commonwealth of nations, pursuing shared goals, independently solving its own internal problems, and contributing to universal peace, security and global progress. At the same time, in the current circumstances of geopolitical fracture and new dividing lines, multilateralism and inclusiveness have become the only possible approach to ensuring peace and stability.
In this context, the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia, as an intergovernmental forum with the widest geographical coverage in the Asian region and a broad agenda, is the most appropriate platform to consolidate the collective wisdom of all Asian countries for peace, cooperation, security and development, and to fully integrate them into the global security architecture and decision-making processes.
The establishment of CICA as a single platform for pan-Asian dialogue on the threshold of this millennium was an objective necessity in the context of the progressive globalization and economic development, as well as worsening challenges and threats to security amidst ongoing sub-regional and local conflicts.
Today, CICA unites 28 states covering more than 90 percent of the territory of Asia, stretching from the Pacific to the Mediterranean and from the Arctic Ocean to the Indian Ocean. It is a unique multilateral dialogue platform providing its diverse membership equal opportunities for voluntary cooperation and participation in collective decision-making for the benefit of entire Asia.
The Sixth CICA Summit held in Astana last October in the thirtieth anniversary year of CICA, launched a structured, inclusive and transparent negotiation process of gradual, incremental and consensus-based transformation of CICA into a full-fledged international regional organization. The Summit adopted a common vision of our organization as contributing to the dynamic, equitable, comprehensive and balanced economic growth, interaction, social and cultural development of its Member States.
This historic decision on transformation was a culmination of extensive consultations among the Member States, which recognized that CICA has successfully served as an effective multilateral mechanism for interaction, confidence building and cooperation with a mature and permanent institutional structure. Over its three decades of evolution, CICA has acquired the status, role, structure, functions, modus operandi and other features of a full-fledged international organization.
These are founding documents outlining common goals and basic principles of relations between the Member States; structure of governing bodies; executive body – the Secretariat; permanent advisory bodies and cooperation mechanisms – the Business Council, Youth Council, Think Tank Forum (TTF), Council of Eminent Persons, CICA Fund; legal capacity – Convention on the Privileges and Immunities; as well as financial and human resources management mechanisms.
Therefore, the first step in the transformation process was the establishment of the Council of Heads of State or Government, the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs and the post of CICA Secretary General.
This year, on the instructions of the Summit, the Member States have developed a Road Map for Transformation with eight specific directions of the forthcoming reforms. It is expected to be endorsed at the informal meeting of the CICA Ministerial Council in New York this September.
Since its establishment, CICA's main area of activity has been confidence building measures (CBMs) in the five dimensions: military-political, economic, environmental, human, and new challenges and threats, with some 30 activities held annually. All CICA CBMs are reflected in the CICA Catalogue of CBMs and grouped into 18 priority areas, coordinated by individual states. To date, there are 17 coordinators and 23 co-coordinators.
The CICA Catalogue of CBMs is a unique document for the Asian region. First approved in 2004, it was substantially updated and expanded in 2021 at the last CICA Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs.
The economic dimension of CICA is one of the most sought-after areas of cooperation. The CICA Member States are creating new opportunities for the development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), the financial sector, transit and transportation corridors, agriculture, energy security, information technology and digitalization.
It is for a good reason that one of the first two permanent institutions established by CICA in 2014 is the CICA Business Council, uniting business associations and government agencies for the promotion of SMEs in the CICA region.
At the Sixth Summit the Kazakh Chairmanship initiated the establishment of a CICA Council on Sustainable Connectivity to strengthen the transit and transport potential of CICA Member States. Another priority of the Chairmanship is to transform into a permanent CICA platform the Finance Summit, which was initiated by China in 2018 and promotes financial cooperation in the CICA region.
CICA successfully promotes cooperation in the environmental dimension, especially on environment protection, achieving carbon neutrality and food security. A High-level Conference of CICA Countries on Environmental Issues will be held in Astana in 2024 to discuss climate change and ways to address it, and to consider establishing a CICA Environmental Council.
Within the human dimension, CICA Member States actively interact in such areas as respect for human rights, promotion of dialogue among civilizations, cultures and religions, empowerment of women and girls, science and education, as well as cooperate in the framework of the CICA Youth Council - the very first permanent CICA institution established in 2014.
Among new initiatives in this dimension are the establishment of a Partnership Network of Leading Universities of the CICA Member States and promoting volunteerism in the CICA region by holding a CICA Rally of Volunteer Movement Leaders in 2024 in Astana.
CICA Member States attach high priority to cooperation in the new threats and challenges dimension, including the fight against terrorism, illegal migration, drug trafficking, addressing the Covid-19 pandemic and in other areas.
In 2021, the CICA Catalogue of CBMs was supplemented by new priority areas “Epidemiological Safety, Public Health and Pharmaceuticals” and “Security of and in the Use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)”. At the Sixth Summit the CICA Member States adopted a statement which gave a strong political impetus to cooperation in this area. A historic achievement of CICA was the adoption in 2022 of the CICA Plan of Action on the Implementation of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy.
In the military-political dimension, CICA provides its Member States with mechanisms for exchanging information on arms control issues, holding consultations on unexpected and dangerous military incidents, monitoring military exercises and other forms of cooperation between the armed forces.
An important contribution to political and expert dialogue within CICA is expected from the new CICA institutions established in 2021 and 2022 - the Council of Eminent Persons, the Think Tank Forum and the CICA Fund. The Council of Eminent Persons will provide high-level recommendations on a wide range of strategic issues of peace and security. The CICA Fund will facilitate project activities and thereby strengthen tangible impact of CICA.
The Think Tank Forum, initiated by China in 2014, was transformed into a permanent institution of CICA in 2021. This Forum plays a special role in the family of CICA bodies. Its mandate and composition allows it to consider an almost unlimited range of issues. Ideas and recommendations developed by the TTF have great potential for transformation into concrete actions and solutions.
For example, at the end of 2021, the TTF held an expert discussion on transformation of CICA and broadly supported its initial concept. This was part of structured discussions on this issue, which in 2022 have resulted in the launch of the transformation process by the CICA Summit.
The CICA Think Tank Forum has a lot of untapped potential. I wish to use this opportunity to propose establishing a strategic synergy between the CICA Business Council and the CICA Think Tank Forum. This can be achieved by initiating the following actions:
- Commissioning research on "National Approaches and Incentives Implemented by CICA Member States to Foster SMEs" and holding a joint seminar on this theme in the nearest future with participation of members of both Business Council and Think Tank Forum.
- Undertaking research on "Advancing the Role of Women in SMEs across the CICA Region" aimed at identifying the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs and exploring opportunities for enhancing their participation and ensuring success. The outcomes of this research could be presented to the annual session of the Business Council.
These initiatives have the potential to significantly enrich our comprehension of the Asian business landscape and serve as a robust foundation for Business Council’s recommendations to CICA governing bodies on enhancing the support mechanisms for SMEs and on empowerment of women in the entrepreneurial sphere.
Such collaborative research efforts and joint seminars would invigorate the inter-sessional activities of each of these two important CICA entities, enrich the exchange of insights among Member States, and reinforce the partnership and synergy between the Business Council and Think Tank Forum.
In conclusion, I wish to stress that practical cooperation among CICA Member States, creation of a rich toolkit of CICA instruments, including the Think Tank Forum, the latest achievements and new forward-looking initiatives – all of these indicate to the increased relevance of CICA for its Member States and its high added value in strengthening peace, security and prosperity in Asia.
Xining, Qinghai, China, 28 August 2023
