Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) - On 5-6 August, a regular Consultative meeting of the heads of state of Central Asia was held in Turkmenbashi.

For the first time, the initiative to hold high-level forums was announced by our President Shavkat Mirziyoyev during the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly in 2017.

This proposal was a direct reflection of Tashkent’s new foreign policy towards regional rapprochement, according to which Central Asia was proclaimed a foreign policy priority.

The key task was to create conditions for strengthening mutually beneficial relations with neighboring states in all areas. Without establishing a direct political dialogue, it would be simply unrealistic to realize what was planned.

A striking evidence that the proposal of the Head of our state reflected objective realities and was a strategically correct step is the holding of the first Consultative meeting next year in Astana.

For the first time in a very long time, the heads of state together in face-to-face format "synchronized watches" on topical issues of regional cooperation, were able to openly exchange views, outline the most promising areas of cooperation.

The fact that we are moving in the right direction was once again confirmed during the consultative meeting in Tashkent in 2019.In the course of its work, an agreement was reached to give these meetings a regular character, a regulation and a Joint Statement were adopted. This was another confirmation that there is no alternative to the dialogue at the highest level.

As a result, thanks to the political will of the leaders of the Central Asian countries, in this relatively short period of time, our states together were able to raise relations to a qualitatively new level, to begin to resolve problems that have not been resolved for many years.

The numbers speak for themselves. In the period 2017–2020. Uzbekistan’s trade with Central Asian countries almost doubled - from US$2.7 to US$5.2 billion. The number of registered joint ventures in 2020 alone increased from 1,274 to 1,531.

In addition, investment cooperation has intensified. The practice of creating investment funds has become widespread. Uzbekistan interacts in a similar format with Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. There are Kazakh-Kyrgyz and Kazakh-Tajik, as well as Turkmen-Kyrgyz funds.

Interdepartmental and intergovernmental mechanisms of interaction are being created. Thus, the Council of khokims of border regions, joint water commissions are successfully functioning, the Parliaments and Governments of the countries are actively interacting.

Cooperation in the political and diplomatic sphere is also expanding, incl. in the international arena. By joint efforts, 4 UN resolutions were adopted, aimed at strengthening regional cooperation, promoting religious tolerance, developing tourism and solving the Aral problem.

At the same time, it is especially important that cooperation has a positive dynamic at all levels. "People’s diplomacy" is developing intensively. The holding of the Days of Cultures, various cultural festivals have become regular, which make it possible to strengthen historically close cultural and humanitarian ties.

In the framework of the Avaza summit, along with the high-level meeting, a number of events were held. In particular, an economic forum, an exhibition of national goods, a meeting of the Dialogue of Women Leaders, tasting of national dishes and a gala concert of art masters from the countries of the region.

This once again confirms that a constructive dialogue at the highest level has created the necessary basis for the practical advancement of cooperation. Thus, we can say with confidence that one of the main goals of regional rapprochement has been achieved - our fraternal peoples can communicate and interact without difficulty and any artificial restrictions.

At the same time, we should not be "blinded" by the achieved positive results. A very large potential for interaction remains unrealized and unused.

These moments were clearly highlighted by our President in his speech. As it was stated, time itself dictates the need to raise our cooperation to a qualitatively new level.

Today, not only Central Asia, but the whole world, is faced with a whole range of challenges and threats to national security and sustainable development. New ones have been added to traditional problems such as terrorism, extremism, drug trafficking. The pandemic, which has affected absolutely all areas of life, has demonstrated our vulnerability.

Now we are at a crossroads, for sustainable development our countries need to work together in new conditions, to adapt to the new reality.

Solving these problems became the core of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s speech. At the same time, I would especially like to note that the implementation of the proposals of the Uzbek side meets the interests of all countries in the region.

The head of state expressed a whole range of initiatives aimed at the development of the region. Attention is paid to all areas of interaction.

In my opinion, the proposals are closely interconnected, which demonstrates the strategic and forward-looking approach of Uzbekistan to building relations with the countries of the region.

In particular, the formation of a full-fledged free trade regime, the elimination of tariff and non-tariff barriers, the holding of regular investment and economic forums, the adoption of an Agreement on general directions of regional trade and economic cooperation will ensure the implementation of a set of agreed measures to strengthen cooperation in this industry on a long-term basis. This will also allow each country to promote those areas of cooperation that are of particular interest to it.

As I have already noted above, today there is still an urgent need for an early normalization of the sanitary and epidemiological situation.

In this regard, our President proposed to introduce a unified information system for the mutual recognition of test results and vaccination certificates, as well as exchange experience in the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases, training of medical workers, and jointly produce medicines.

Attention was also paid to cooperation in the energy sector, ensuring food security, parliamentary and youth interaction.

Following the meeting, a Joint Statement was adopted.

It firmly confirmed the intention to continue interaction in the interests of ensuring peace, stability and security in the region. This testifies to the growing demand for this dialogue platform.

Thus, we can see that absolutely all areas of relations are covered. In this regard, I would like to emphasize once again that the regional course of Uzbekistan does not set itself the goal of obtaining unilateral benefits. We are interested in turning Central Asia into a region of peace, prosperity, stability and mutually beneficial cooperation.

The International Institute of Central Asia, created on the personal initiative of the President, will, for its part, make a worthy contribution to this.

The very initiative to establish an Institute that will study the region on a comprehensive basis is a logical continuation of our policy.

The main task of the IICA is the development of practical proposals that will take into account the interests of all countries in the region, promote development and help overcome the emerging challenges and threats.

To this end, the Institute actively interacts with the analytical structures of Central Asia. 

Thus, agreements on cooperation were concluded with the Center for Strategic Research under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, the Center for Advanced Studies and Retraining of the Foreign Ministry’s Foreign Service Workers, the Institute of History, Archeology and Ethnography named after V.I. A. Donish of the Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan, the Institute for the Study of the Problems of Asian and European Countries of the Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan, the International Center for Geopolitical Forecasting "East-West" and others. Joint activities are carried out with the National Institute for Strategic Studies of the Kyrgyz Republic, the Institute of Oriental Studies named after A. RB Suleimenova of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Institute of Economic Research under the Ministry of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Institute of History and Archeology of the Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan.

Anvar Nasirov - Director of the International Institute of Central Asia