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CICA Secretary General reveals expectations from Azerbaijan's chairmanship of the organization

Kairat Saribay, Secretary General of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA)

17 December 2024 18:18 (UTC +04:00)

“I am confident that the high level of cooperation between the participating countries of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) will be maintained during Azerbaijan’s chairmanship of the organization, said Kairat Saribay, Secretary General of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA), at the 7th meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the organization in an online format, APA reports.

K. Saribay expressed confidence that official Baku will continue the work done towards the transformation of the organization and will play a role in making important decisions until the next summit in 2026.

According to him, after the 6th meeting held in 2022, the secretariat of the conference focused on the implementation of strategic tasks set by the leaders of the member countries. In the past period, a ministerial-level meeting was held in New York, and a total of 7 meetings were held with the participation of senior officials of the CICA member states.

K. Saribay also outlined the priorities for the Secretariat of the CICA: “Among our main priorities is the strengthening of partnership relations within the CICA and the organization’s position in the global arena. At the same time, I would like to note that in the past period, our relations with the UN and other international organizations have expanded further. Among these structures, I would like to especially mention TURKPA, ASEAN, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. I would also like to state that during this period, we have selected the most widely disseminated examples from the UN’s experience in the field of human resources management and applied them in our activities.”

However, the Secretary-General drew attention to the decrease in financial support provided by the organization’s members to its activities over the past two years. He added that while this indicator was 60 percent in 2023, it decreased to 37 percent in 2024: “First of all, I call on the Foreign Ministers of the CICA member states to discuss increasing financial support for the activities of the organization’s secretariat. This factor will increase the responsibility of all states within the organization. At the same time, I would like to note that the construction of the headquarters of our organization is continuing according to schedule. It is expected to begin operating in the summer of 2025. At the end of my speech, I wish success to Azerbaijan, which will chair the CICA in 2024-2026.