Sixth Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) Summit was held from October 12-13 in Astana, Kazakhstan. The summit was chaired by Kazakhstan’s President, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
The agenda of the Summit was to deliberate on key issues pertaining to CICA’s objectives. This year CICA also celebrated the 30th Anniversary of its foundation. The CICA has the 27-Member countries contributing to peace and prosperity in Asia.
Along these lines, it endeavored to resolve key issues pertaining to its internal mechanism and functioning by taking into account the most pressing global issues, especially in the backdrop of the situation in Eurasia and the Middle East.
11 heads of state attended, including the Presidents of Azerbaijan, Belarus (observer), Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the State of Palestine, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Uzbekistan, as well as the Emir of Qatar and the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif.
Vice-Presidents of China and Vietnam also participated in the summit. Other countries were represented at various levels. Aside from that, approximately 50 delegations from member-states, observer-states, observer organizations, partner organizations, and guests of the chairmanship attended the summit.
United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres video addressed the Summit. Among the other guests were the Deputy Secretary-General of TURKPA, Talgat Aduov, Secretary General of the Organization of Turkic States, Baghdad Amreyev attended the two-day Summit.
Natalia Gherman; Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Central Asia and Head of the UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia, Manfred Profazi
IOM’s Regional Director for South-Eastern Europe, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia, Khalil Al Thawadi, Assistant Secretary General at LAS, and Yuri Fenopetov, Deputy Head of OSCE office in Kazakhstan were also in attendance at the Summit.
Likewise, Khusrav Noziri, the Secretary General of ECO, along with Grigory Logvinov, SCO Deputy Secretary General, Altamash Wazir Khan, EC RATS SCO Deputy Director, and Andrey Seleznev, Head of the UNODC Programme office in Kyrgyzstan also attended the Summit.
President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev opened the sixth Summit
The President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev opened the sixth summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA).
In his opening remarks, he stated that “This year marks the 30th anniversary of an initiative to convene this conference. Over this period, it has become a platform for multilateral cooperation & international institution of modern diplomacy.”
“Today we live in the conditions of an unprecedented geopolitical storm and the growing crisis of the world economy. This phenomenon has already been called ‘global dysfunction.’
Since the last CICA summit in 2019, the world community has experienced difficult trials, the negative consequences of which continue to have an impact on global development.
In my view, a particularly important challenge facing us is to achieve sustainability in international relations in the face of emerging unprecedented threats.
It is critically important to give a new impetus to multilateral mechanisms and return to open dialogue, the President of Kazakhstan communicated.”
The President of Kazakstan also touched open multifarious issues during his speech, including issues pertaining to the economy, food security, environment, and sustainability.
Priority directions for Kazakhstan’s chairpersonship at the CICA (2022-2024)
All CICA member states supported Kazakhstan’s application for a new term of chairpersonship in 2022-2024 (Kazakhstan also chaired CICA in 2020-2022). Five priority directions for Kazakhstan’s next two-year chairpersonship at the CICA were put forth.
- Form the CICA Council on Sustainable Interconnectivity, particularly in the context of gaps in global supply chains.
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Transform the CICA Financial Summit into a permanent platform. According to the President, this transformation will assist in economic recovery and sustainable and inclusive growth, creating ideal conditions for regional and subregional financial cooperation.
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Ecological issues – significant investments are required to decarbonize the continent’s economy.
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A working mechanism for ensuring food security – there is a need for unified approaches to assessing the compliance of important products with national standards and creating green corridors between CICA member states for this category of goods.
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People must always be at the center of their efforts. President Tokayev stated that economic measures can be considered effective only if they are focused on the human dimension and the development of human resources.
Astana Statement on CICA transformation adopted
The participating countries adopted the Astana Statement on transforming the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) into a full-fledged organization.
The President of Kazakhstan proposed this critical step in October 2021 during the Sixth Foreign Ministerial meeting of CICA.
The transformation will impact how the organization operates and help them effectively implement the regional development programs. This transformation has been a critical priority of the incumbent chairperson Kazakhstan during its tenure from 2020-2022.
The President of Kazakhstan proposed this critical step in October 2021 during the Sixth Foreign Ministerial meeting of CICA. It will impact how the organization operates and help them effectively implement the regional development programs.
Astana Statement on CICA transformation
The Heads of State or Governments of the Member States of the CICA decided to chart the future course of the cooperation at the CICA level.
It was unanimously decided to launch the structured, inclusive, and transparent negotiations process of gradual, incremental, and consensus-based transformation of CICA into a full-fledged regional international organization.
The process of transforming CICA will pursue the following primary goals: defining the overarching areas of future cooperation and strengthening the interaction’s organizational and institutional base.
The member countries of CICA envision the organization as contributing to dynamic, equitable, comprehensive, and balanced economic growth, connectivity, and social and cultural development of its Member States.
The member countries have shared their resolve to strengthen collective work within our organization to seek joint solutions for common challenges of the twenty-first century towards a secure and prosperous region and to pursue peaceful settlement of disputes following the UN Charter;
CICA, as an organization, will interact and cooperate in areas of interest of all Member States with other states, organizations, and fora, sharing the same goals and principles to strengthen results-oriented and consensus-based multilateral cooperation in the region.
Process of Transformation
Here are the steps that were decided to transform the process. The Meeting of Heads of State or Government (Summit) and the Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs (Ministerial Meeting) shall henceforth be referred to, respectively, as the Council of Heads of State or Government (Summit) and the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs (Ministerial Council).
The Executive Director of the CICA Secretariat shall henceforth be referred to as Secretary General. The Secretariat will submit to the Member States, through the Chairmanship, proposals for amendments to the relevant CICA documents for approval by the respective governing bodies.
It was also decided that the Member States will determine, when and as appropriate, the details of the transformation process, including criteria for membership.
To take a meaningful, practical step to that end, the request will be made to the chairmanship with the respective country for drafting proposals in 202 the chairmanship to make proposals in 2023 with the assistance of the Secretary-General and close consultation with the Member States, on a road map of necessary measures in the transformation process for consideration by the Member States.
This is an important milestone as CICA is celebrating its 30 years of establishment, and transformation.
CICA SOC approved draft decisions
The Senior Officials Committee (SOC) of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) approved various draft decisions. It approved the draft decision on the accession of Kuwait as a Member State.
In this vein, it recommended adoption by the CICA Summit. Moreover, SOC approved the draft Regulations of the CICA Fund along with recommending its adoption by the CICA Summit 2022.
Aside from that the SOC approved the “draft CICA Leaders’ Statement on Cooperation in the Field of Security of and in the Use of ICTs and recommended its adoption by the CICA Summit 2022.
The SOC also approved the draft CICA Plan of Action on the Implementation of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy and recommended its adoption by the CICA Summit.
Lastly, the SOC approved Kyrgyzstan as co-coordinator in the priority area “Trade & Investment & approved Concept Papers in key priority areas of CICA CBMs.
These include the development of secure & effective systems of transportation corridors, the Human Dimension, & security of and in the use of ICTs.
Kuwait joins CICA as Member State
Kuwait officially joined the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) as a member state.
Turkmenistan assumes the status of a CICA observer state
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the President of Kazakhstan while addressing the 6th CICA Summit noted that the organization’s observer states & partners had increased after Turkmenistan became an observer state.
CICA appointed First Secretary General
The CICA summit appointed the incumbent Executive Director of the CICA Secretariat; Ambassador Kairat Sarybay as the first secretary General of CICA.
Ambassador Kairat Sarybay has served as the Executive Director of the Secretariat of the CICA since September 24, 2020.
Kairat Sarybay has had an illustrious career span in diplomacy and has served his country at the highest level since 1991.
Since he joined the service in August 1991, Ambassador has been appointed to various positions in the structural divisions of the central office and diplomatic missions abroad.
Adopted Documents and Decisions
Following the summit, the participants adopted the following documents and decisions;
• The Astana Statement on Transforming the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia
• The Statement by CICA Heads of State on Cooperation to Ensure ICT Security
• The package of approved documents includes;
– The CICA Action Plan to Implement the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy
– The summit’s decisions in granting the status of a CICA member state to Kuwait, on CICA presidency issues in 2022–2024, and on holding regular meetings of the Council of Heads of State and Government and the Council of Ministers
• Decision on CICA Chairmanship in 2022-2024 and the next meetings of the Summit and Ministerial Council
• The CICA Fund Regulations have also been approved
A partnership between CICA and the EAEU established
On the sidelines of the Sixth Summit of CICA, a signing ceremony was hosted for a Memorandum of Understanding between the CICA Secretariat and the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).
The document was signed by CICA Executive Director; Kairat Sarybay and Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission; Mikhail Myasnikovich. Accordingly, the EEC became the sixth Partner Organization of CICA.
Regional economic integration, economy & finance, transportation and transport, digitalization & information & communication technology, industry, agribusiness, trade, & competition policy were identified as fields of interaction between the two associations.
