Iran plays a significant role in CICA: Secretary general
By Reza Abesh Ahmadlou
Staff writer
Iran has played a significant role in the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) from the beginning, said CICA Secretary General Kairat Sarybay in Tehran.
Talking to Iran Daily on Tuesday, Sarybay added that Iran has been an important part of CICA processes for 30 years, and with its very constructive engagement, the country contributes a lot to multilateral development.
Pointing to the priorities of Kazakhstan as the chairman of CICA, the Kazakh official said, “We had a very productive summit in Astana in October 2022. First and foremost, leaders decided to transform CICA into the new level of cooperation. This is not about establishing a new organization; we’re talking about how we can improve the level of interaction and cooperation within CICA by improving some modalities and some legislation.”
Another important decision of the CICA summit was the cooperation of member states in countering terrorism, Sarybay noted, adding that the third very bold and unique decision was that our leaders delivered the statement on cooperation in the security of ICT.
“Today, digital solutions are an integral part of our daily lives, but we should ensure the security of these ICTs, and that was agreed upon by CICA leaders,” he said.
“Last but not least, we agreed on the establishment of the CICA Fund, which can be a great help in operationalizing the efforts of all member states, in funding the building measures, and in arranging speedy responses to natural disasters in states that are in great need.”
The bulk emphasis of the 2022 summit was on sustainable connectivity, Sarybay said, noting that, today, a connected Asia will serve the global good, will serve not only economic development in Asia, but also serve global development, because Asia is the most populous continent and geographically huge.
“Member states put forward some new ideas like establishing a partnership network of leading universities,” the official said.
In the near future, we will see bold interaction of all member states in environmental protection, for which Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev initiated the conference on the environment.
“We are now living in an age of transformation of the global financial system. We have to discuss new ways of financial calculations in order to boost international trade and economic development in the world,” he concluded.