Executive Director of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia Kairat Sarybay participated in the Eurasian Economic Forum in Bishkek (Kyrgyz Republic) on 26 May 2022 at the invitation of Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission Mikhail Myasnikovich, Delovoy Kazakhstan reports.
Kairat Sarybay made a presentation at the panel session “Interaction between the EAEU and Promising International Partners: Mutually Beneficial Cooperation in the Greater Eurasia” on the prospects of interaction between CICA and the Eurasian Economic Union.
In his presentation, the Executive Director pointed out the five key dimensions of cooperation of CICA – military-political, new challenges and threats, economic, environmental, and human. That being said, at least 60 percent of the CICA agenda is represented by economic issues, which clearly testifies to the Member States' focus on practical cooperation, which in turn opens up broad prospects for interaction with the EAEU.
Field for joint activity could be both “traditional” areas such as economy and finance, trade and investment, development of small and medium enterprises, agriculture and food security, and new and rapidly developing areas such as digitalization, information and communication technology, development of transportation corridors and multimodal transportation, epidemiological safety, energy conservation, energy efficiency and renewable energy use, as well as tourism.
Cooperation between the CICA Business Council and the EAEU Business Council could become one of the practical forms of this work.
The CICA Executive Director emphasized that the wide range of economic opportunities, global and regional challenges, the goals of sustainable development and environmental protection are indicative of the need for greater interaction and connectivity on the Asian and – on a broader scale – on the Eurasian continent.
In December 2021, the CICA Member States decided to initiate contacts with the Eurasian Economic Commission in order to establish mutually beneficial and constructive interaction. The Eurasian Economic Commission has been invited to participate in the CICA Summit in Nur-Sultan on 12-13 October 2022.
Statement of CICA Executive Director Ambassador Kairat Sarybay at the Eurasian Economic Forum in Bishkek
(Panel discussion “Interaction between the EAEU and Promising International Partners: Mutually Beneficial Cooperation in the Greater Eurasia”, 17.00-18.30)
Dear Kirill Barsky,
Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
It gives me sincere pleasure to have the opportunity to address today such an august audience. I thank the organizers of the Eurasian Economic Forum for the invitation and for the opportunity to make my humble contribution to the discussion on the EAEU interaction with promising international partners.
Last December, the CICA Member States mandated the CICA Secretariat to initiate contacts with the Eurasian Economic Commission to establish constructive and mutually beneficial cooperation.
As we know, one of the main tasks of the Eurasian Economic Union is to promote the development of economic cooperation among the Member States and improve the living standard of its population.
In turn, CICA brings together 27 Member States at a platform for pan-Asian dialogue. CICA proposes the most comprehensive agenda, acting in five broad dimensions of cooperation – military-political, new challenges and threats, economic, environmental, and human. At the same time, at least 60 percent of the CICA agenda represented by economic issues, which clearly testifies to the Member States' focus on practical cooperation.
The CICA Member States intend to launch the process of transforming the Conference into a full-fledged international organization in order to reach a new level of cooperation. It is expected that the relevant decision will be made by the Heads of State and Government at the Sixth CICA Summit in Nur-Sultan in October 2022.
Based on the analysis of the strategic directions of the EAEU development and the CICA Catalogue of Confidence Building Measures, many areas of mutual interest can be identified as very promising directions of cooperation. These are such traditional and absolutely necessary areas of interaction as economy and finance, trade and investment, development of small and medium enterprises, agriculture, especially in order to solve such an acute and urgent problem as ensuring food security.
These are new areas of cooperation driven by development needs, such as digitalization and information and communication technology. Given the large number of landlocked countries and the need for sustainable development of landlocked territories, it seems promising to jointly develop transportation corridors and multimodal transportation.
The bottom line is that no economic measures can be considered effective if they do not focus on the human dimension, preserving and developing human resources. The coronavirus pandemic has shown how important it is to ensure close and efficient interaction on the matters of epidemiological safety, public health, and pharmaceuticals.
Tourism is an active form of human communication, which helps nations to learn about each other, develop mutual understanding and establish cultural and economic relations between peoples and nations.
After all, humanity cannot move into the future without addressing environmental issues, a proactive climate agenda. Such development areas as energy conservation, energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy are closely related to them.
Therefore, the wide range of economic challenges and opportunities, global and regional threats and challenges, the goals of sustainable development and environmental protection are indicative of the need for greater interaction and connectivity on the Asian and – on a broader scale – on the Eurasian continent.
Connectivity has become a critical need, especially in light of the ongoing revolution in information and communication technology, transit and transportation communications, access to markets for capital, goods, services and labour, new scientific and technological opportunities, and the free movement of ideas and people.
CICA is interested in harnessing the EAEU potential and experience to enhance the economic dimension of CICA, intensify the dialogue between business communities, including through the development of cooperation between the CICA Business Council and the EAEU Business Council.
I would like to express my confidence that effective interaction between CICA and the EAEU will serve the interests of the Member States and generate tangible dividends for all.
To conclude, I would like to thank the host country of today's Forum for its hospitality, which the Kyrgyz people have always been known for. I wish to emphasize that the Kyrgyz Republic is one of the founding members of CICA, and I appreciate Kyrgyzstan's contribution to the CICA process and our active cooperation.
Thank you for your attention.
