Renewing Kazakhstan’s presidency, Tokayev sets five priorities for leadership
Astana – ASWAQ
At the final statement of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia “CICA” in Astana, the Kazakhstan capital Yesterday “Thursday”, the Heads of State and Governments of the Members States decided to chart the future course of cooperation among the 27 Member States and to launch negotiations for its transformation into a full international and regional organization, which is one of the main priorities of Kazakhstan’s presidency, meanwhile, all member states support Kazakhstan’s request for a new presidential term in 2022-2024.
The participants adopted the Astana Statement on the transformation of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia, on Ensuring Information and Communication Technology Security, the CICA Action Plan for the Implementation of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, the summit decisions to grant the status of a CICA member state to Kuwait, and on issues of chairing the conference In 2022-2024, regular meetings of the Council of Heads of State and Government and the Council of Ministers were held.
Meanwhile, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev during his speech outlined five priority directions for Kazakhstan’s next two-year chairpersonship at the CICA, while the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres stated: “I am grateful for our partnership in pursuit of our shared goals: advancing sustainable development.” He noted that “over the last 30 years, CICA has grown into a vital platform for dialogue between countries across Asia.”
All Member States supported Kazakhstan’s application for a new term of chairpersonship in 2022-2024 and appointed incumbent Executive Director of the CICA Secretariat H. E. Ambassador Kairat Sarybay as the First Secretary General of CICA.
The final statement stressed the need to support and strengthen the negotiating process with the aim of transforming the conference into an organized, comprehensive, and transparent organization, based on the consensus of CICA members, which will seek to achieve the main objectives of the organization, identify comprehensive areas for future cooperation and strengthen the organizational and institutional base for the interaction of member states.
Member states also agreed to enhance collective action and find appropriate solutions to meet common challenges, in pursuit of a safe and prosperous region, support for the peaceful settlement of disputes, and cooperation with regional organizations.
We envision that our organization contributes to the dynamic, equitable, inclusive, and balanced economic growth, interdependence, and social and cultural development of its member states, and we will also strengthen our collective work within our organization in order to search for common solutions to our common challenges in the twenty-first century towards a safe and prosperous region and to seek the peaceful settlement of disputes in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.
During his speech, outlined five priority directions for Kazakhstan’s next two-year chairpersonship at the CICA as the following:
- Formation of the CICA Council on Sustainable Interdependence, particularly in the context of gaps in global supply chains
- Transforming the CICA Financial Summit into a permanent platform, which helps in economic recovery and sustainable and inclusive growth, and creates ideal conditions for regional and sub-regional financial cooperation.
- significant investments are required to decarbonize the continent’s economy.
- A working mechanism to ensure food security and the need for standardized approaches to assess the compliance of important products with national standards and the establishment of green corridors between CICA member states for this category of commodities.
- People must always be at the center of efforts focusing on the human dimension, and the development of human resources.
