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OSCE-CICA Forum can become a permanent dialogue platform - Kazakh Sec of State-Foreign Minister

saudabayev

At special meeting "Security and Economic Cooperation in Eurasia in XXI Century" in Istanbul OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Kazakhstan Secretary of State - Minister of Foreign Affairs Kanat Saudabayev has suggested discussing the issue of establishing the OSCE-CICA Forum.

According to K. Saudabayev, the Forum can become a permanent dialogue platform for the two structures, allowing to discuss and consider the most urgent issues of security and cooperation in the Eurasian continent.

"As early as 1992 in his first speech to the UN General Assembly President Nazarbayev proposed the initiative to convene a conference on interaction and confidence building measures in Asia. Then the proposal was met with a certain degree of irony and skepsis. Today Kazakhstan is an economically strong and democratic state, a worthy partner of the world community. President Nursultan Nazarbayev is a recognized leader. The CICA is the analogue of the OSCE in Asia including 22 states representing half of the world's population and one-third of the world GDP", the Kazakh Secretary of State said. He noted that on June 8 the leaders of the CICA member states would gather for the third time.
 

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K. Saudabayev emphasized the necessity of close interaction and mutual understanding, coordination of actions and approaches for overcoming the growing security challenges and threats in Eurasia. In particular, such interaction is needed for the problem of Afghanistan.

The Secretary of State informed that during his visit to Kabul in May 2010 the issues of strengthening the OSCE support as well as bilateral relations were discussed with the Afghan authorities. Besides, he pointed out the Kazakh President's initiative to allocate USD 50 million for training a thousand of Afghan students at Kazakhstan's universities.

"We consider that the OSCE and CICA, as two largest regional organizations in Eurasia, should double their efforts for development of economic cooperation in the member states. Thus, Kazakhstan as the chair country in OSCE (2010) and in OIC Ministerial Conference (2011) will double efforts on strengthening cooperation between the two structures and the two continents that should be enriched with experience and new ideas", K. Saudabayev stressed.

The Secretary of State finished his speech with the Kazakhstan President's address to the participants of the event.

"Today Kazakhstan carries out a responsible mission of chairmanship in two large regional structures of the continent - the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. We see the interpenetration of Asian and European trends in the world politics and economy that leads to the need to deepen interaction between states and regional organizations", the address reads.

N. Nazarbayev notes that the CICA has quickly adapted to a changing world, and consistently promoted cooperation with the OSCE.

"In this context we should not exclude the possibility of establishing a kind of unified platform on the issues of security and confidence in the Eurasian space. Since we are firmly committed to strengthening cooperation between the two regional structures, Kazakhstan, as OSCE chair, is taking steps aimed at institutionalizing the relations between them", Nursultan Nazarbayev's address reads.
 
 
Kazinform
 
 
09.06.2010