Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) – On 21 December 2020, an expert online conference was held to discuss the results of the chairmanship of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the CIS.

The event, organized by the Institute for Strategic and Interregional Studies under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, was attended by experts from leading research institutes of the CIS member states.

A thorough exchange of views took place on the results of Uzbekistan’s chairmanship in the Commonwealth of Independent States, the country’s contribution to the development and strengthening of multilateral cooperation within the framework of this Association. An assessment is given to the new initiatives of the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev to improve interaction between the CIS member states in various fields.

Opening the conference, Deputy Director of Institute for Strategic and Regional Studies (ISMI) Sanjar Valiev outlined the high performance of Uzbekistan’s chairmanship in the CIS in 2020, achieved despite the difficult period of the pandemic. The expert stressed that at the beginning of the year Uzbekistan took persistent and consistent actions in developing measures and mechanisms aimed at maximizing the potential of the Commonwealth in the interests of the development of all its participants and solving emerging problems. The main priority of Tashkent is the consistent expansion and enhancement of the effectiveness of multilateral cooperation.

As S. Valiev emphasized, under the leadership of President Shфмлфе Mirziyoyev, Uzbekistan stepped up its participation in the development of trade, economic, transport and communication spheres, in the field of countering transnational challenges and threats, strengthening the cultural and humanitarian component of cooperation in the Commonwealth. This line became a direct reflection of the new open foreign policy and the adopted strategic directions of internal development.

The most important achievements of the chairmanship of Uzbekistan include the updated Concept for the further development of the CIS for the period up to 2030, which was fully supported and approved by the leaders of the participating countries at the December summit, and a number of other important program documents. It was especially emphasized that Uzbekistan views the CIS as an important and effective platform for strengthening partnership in all areas of political, economic and humanitarian cooperation. As S. Valiev noted, the new, demanded initiatives put forward by the leadership of Uzbekistan at the final summit of the heads of the CIS states on December 18 this year are intended to continue the intensification and expansion of all spheres of practical interaction.

Supporting his colleague, Deputy Director of IMEMO RAN Sergey Afontsev highlighted important basic trends that emerged during the presidency of Uzbekistan. In his opinion, during this period, documents have been prepared and adopted that are of great importance for further integration movement within the CIS. Among them is the new Strategy for Economic Development in the CIS until 2030, which by its content demonstrates a “colossal qualitative breakthrough”. This program document laid the foundations for the most priority areas of cooperation between the CIS member states, incl. the technological sphere, which, due to balanced and practically realistic approaches, are of great interest for real business.

S. Afontsev focused the attention of the participants in the dialogue on the flexibility of Uzbekistan’s approach to taking into account the interests of all states, introduced by him on the CIS platform. This is one of the important achievements that Tashkent can credit for its chairmanship. As international practice shows, the greatest dynamism and stability are demonstrated by those integration associations that provide for such an approach.

Gulshan Pashayeva, deputy director of the Center for Analysis of International Relations of Azerbaijan, assessing the results of the chairmanship of Uzbekistan, noted that the country’s leadership has actually formed new approaches to cooperation within multilateral formats.

As the expert noted, with their help it is possible to develop not only bilateral, but also regional economic, cultural and humanitarian cooperation based on "sincere friendship and mutual interests."

The expert emphasized that the Uzbek authorities have demonstrated by their example that international and regional platforms can in fact be effective, especially when all parties clearly understand the tasks and priorities that these organizations face.

In turn, Elena Kuzmina, Head of the Sector at the IMEMO RAS, noted that the CIS countries have many common interests. For example, the largest trading partners of the member states within the Commonwealth are their neighbors.

A serious trend has emerged that demonstrates the need to intensify economic interaction. In this vein, it was stated that within the framework of the CIS, a developed regulatory and legal framework is successfully functioning in various areas of mutual interest.

A significant addition to the consolidation of common efforts was the signing during the presidency of Uzbekistan of conceptual documents defining the further policy of developing cooperation of the Organization for the long term.

Sanat Kushkumbayev, deputy director of the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies, believes that the CIS is still a pivotal structure that unites various stages of interaction. According to the expert, it is gratifying that the chairmanship of Uzbekistan this year has brought new breath to the activities of the CIS. This was due to persistent and consistent advancement in a difficult period of an agenda that unites the interests of all participating countries.

The new atmosphere of relations, formed by Uzbekistan in the international arena, impresses the regional neighbors, motivating everyone for multifaceted cooperation.

Another achievement of Uzbekistan this year, the expert called the signing of the Concept for the further development of the CIS until 2030, which determined the planning horizon for the coming decade, which inspires great optimism.

Aleksey Dzermant, a researcher at the Institute of Philosophy of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, stressed that Uzbekistan demonstrates sound optimism on the platform of the chairmanship, which should be picked up by all interested members of the Association. This is due to the uniqueness of the CIS platform, which has in its arsenal a number of legal mechanisms that do not overlap with other integration entities. So, a key place in the internal agenda of the Commonwealth is occupied by a huge potential in the humanitarian sphere, to which President Sh.Mirziyoyev gives priority attention. It is very important when the leader of the nation puts forward initiatives on the international platform to unite efforts to protect the rights of labor migrants and raise standards in the field of education and health, which have gained particular relevance in the context of the spread of the pandemic.

The expert called the proposal to combine efforts in the field of ensuring information and ideological security as a very popular initiative of the leader of Uzbekistan. The CIS needed new mechanisms, forms of interaction and common approaches. The Commonwealth is an excellent platform for countering and arresting the above threats.

The head of the department of the Belarusian Institute for Strategic Studies Anton Dudarenok noted that the period of Uzbekistan’s chairmanship in the Commonwealth was very fruitful. The organization has shown resilience and readiness to make important decisions in difficult times.

Legal strategic foundations have been laid for improving the activities of the CIS, which testifies to the success of the correctly chosen complex of joint actions. In this vein, the expert emphasized that, within the framework of the upcoming chairmanship in 2021, Belarus intends to continue the proactive Uzbek course towards strengthening the status of the Organization and improving institutional mechanisms of interaction.

The conference participants agreed that in the light of the "reset" of the CIS platform and the unifying factors of modern challenges, carried out at the initiative of Uzbekistan, the Organization will retain its relevance in the long term as an effective platform for multilateral interaction.