Uzbekistan's President Attends Consultative Summit of Heads of State of Central Asia

The Third Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia took place on Friday at the national tourist zone "Avaz" of Turkmenistan.

The summit chaired by President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov was attended by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev, the President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Japarov, and the President of the Republic of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, as well as the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Central Asia, the head of the Regional Center on preventive diplomacy for Central Asia Natalia German.

Central Asia is a region of great geostrategic and geo-economic importance. More than 74 million people live here. The history and culture of the peoples, the economy and infrastructure of the countries of the region are closely interconnected.

As the leader of Uzbekistan has repeatedly noted, the countries of the region face the main goal - by joint efforts to turn Central Asia into a stable, economically developed and prosperous region. To achieve this goal, as well as to fully realize the potential of the region, strengthen relations of mutual trust, good-neighborliness and cooperation, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev in 2017 came up with an initiative to organize a Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia.

This initiative, which meets the fundamental interests of the fraternal peoples of the countries of the region, received broad support and quickly became a reality. The first summit of leaders took place in March 2018 in the capital of Kazakhstan, Nur-Sultan, and the second in November 2019 in the city of Tashkent.

The next summit in Avaz was also very rich and informative.

President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev noted in his speech that thanks to the common political will and joint efforts, today the region is becoming a space of good-neighborliness, mutually beneficial cooperation and sustainable development.

- In the formation of a new political atmosphere here, it is difficult to overestimate the role of the Consultative Meetings of the Heads of State of Central Asia. Our regular meetings at the highest level allow us to fully realize the unique potential of the region, - said Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

The head of Uzbekistan expressed his vision on topical issues and put forward a number of proposals

It was noted that today's realities require decisive steps to form a new model of economic cooperation in Central Asia. It is important to identify new points of growth, new drivers of development for the long term.

The need to build up intraregional trade was emphasized, and in order to move to a full-fledged free trade regime, it is important to remove existing barriers. Long value chains can be created through the development of industrial cooperation, innovation and digital technologies.

It was noted that for this, direct business contacts between entrepreneurs and regions of our countries should be encouraged, and investment and economic forums should be held regularly.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said that the time has come for the adoption of an Agreement on general directions of regional trade and economic cooperation.

It is in the common strategic interests of the Central Asian countries to effectively use the transport and transit potential of the region. An extensive and integrated transport system can become a key transit hub on the Eurasian continent.

In this regard, the President of Uzbekistan called for the fullest possible loading of the existing transport corridors and infrastructure, including the ports of the Caspian Sea, large cross-border logistics centers.

In addition, in the future, Uzbekistan expects to use the possibilities of the Trans-Afghan corridor "Termez - Mazar-i-Sharif - Kabul - Peshawar", the road and railways "China - Kyrgyzstan - Uzbekistan".

The issues of energy security of the region are becoming even more urgent in view of the growth of national economies and population. In this regard, it is necessary to continue efforts to form a common energy space, paying special attention to the advanced implementation of "green" energy and energy efficient technologies.

The President of Uzbekistan proposed to intensify the activities of the Electricity Coordination Council of Central Asian countries, expanding its mandate and powers, as well as the level of representation of countries.

The attention of the meeting participants was drawn to the aggravation of the problems of providing the population with food products in the context of a pandemic. In some regions of the world, there is a rise in prices and a shortage of basic foodstuffs.

The head of state, supporting the initiative to hold regular meetings of the ministers of agriculture of the region's countries, proposed to include in the agenda of their first meeting the issue of introducing a regional food security monitoring system.

This will make it possible to determine specific directions and joint programs to increase food production and control their quality, including deliveries to the world market.

They also touched upon the issues of close coordination and mutual assistance in the fight against the pandemic.

To this end, Shavkat Mirziyoyev proposed to launch a unified information system for the recognition of test results and vaccination certificates, expand the exchange of experience in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases, training of medical workers, establish scientific cooperation in the field of pharmacology and cooperation in the production of vital medicines.

The leader of the country stressed that the focus should always be on the environmental problems of the region. It is necessary to expand the scale of cooperation, to take all possible measures to mitigate the consequences of the Aral Sea disaster.

In this context, the President of Uzbekistan proposed to develop a regional program "Green Agenda" for Central Asia ", which would contribute to the adaptation of the countries of the region to climate change, as well as the wider introduction of resource-saving technologies.

The leader of Uzbekistan stressed the importance of strengthening the ties of this region with other large regions of the world. He thanked the heads of state for the support and active participation of the delegations of their countries in the work of the recently held in Tashkent International Conference on the Connectedness of Central and South Asia.

“We all realize what an important role young people play in the development of our countries, which make up the majority of the population in the region. Today, when the struggle for the minds and hearts of the young generation continues throughout the world, we need to educate our youth, on which the future of Central Asia depends, in the spirit of patriotism, respect for national and universal values, '' Shavkat Mirziyoyev said.

The head of state proposed to hold a Central Asian Youth Forum in Uzbekistan next year, which will be an important step towards forming a platform for strengthening trust and friendship, an interactive dialogue between representatives of governments and youth of our countries.

The President of Uzbekistan stressed the importance of regular organization of festivals, days of culture and cinema, joint publication of books on the cultural heritage of Central Asia.

Another effective factor contributing to the rapprochement of the peoples of the region is the tourism sector. It is important to actively apply additional incentives to increase intra-regional tourist exchange.

The head of state proposed to start the practical implementation of the joint program "One tour - the whole region" covering the entire range of tourism products.

- Today's summit acquires special significance due to the fact that it is taking place on the eve of a significant event - the 30th anniversary of independence of the states of the region.

These were difficult years for all of us. The main conclusion is that only together, together, supporting each other, can we achieve a solution to the problems we face, ensure the sustainable development of the region and increase the well-being of the population. There is no other alternative! - President Shavkat Mirziyoyev noted.

The importance of imparting a stable and irreversible character to the processes of regional cooperation, wider use of the potential of “people's diplomacy”, parliaments, civil society institutions and the media sphere for these purposes was emphasized.

- We welcome the further development of the Dialogue of Women of Central Asia, the expansion of contacts to achieve global goals in the field of gender equality, Shavkat Mirziyoyev emphasized.

Taking into account the growing role of parliamentarism, the President of the country proposed holding a Regional Parliamentary Forum in Tashkent.

At the end of his speech, the head of Uzbekistan expressed confidence that the results of the Consultative meeting will become a worthy contribution to the further strengthening of the multifaceted partnership of the fraternal peoples of Central Asia.