No:128/24, Press release on the election of the Republic of Azerbaijan as the Chair of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) for 2024–2026
19 March 2024 19:32
In accordance with the recommendation given at the meeting of the Committee of Senior Officials of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) dated 14 March, by the decision of the CICA Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs dated 19 March 2024, the Republic of Azerbaijan has been elected as the Chair of CICA for 2024–2026.
According to the decision, within the framework of our chairmanship, it is envisaged that our country will host the CICA Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs in 2024 and the CICA Council of Heads of State and Government (Summit) in 2026.
It should be noted that the initiative to convene CICA was first put forward by Kazakhstan on 5 October 1992 during the 47th session of the United Nations General Assembly. The purpose of the initiative is to establish an effective and universal organization for ensuring security in Asia.
Azerbaijan actively participates in cooperation within the framework of CICA. Our country performs the function of coordinator of the confidence-building measure in the field of “Development of secure and efficient transport corridors.”
The main documents regulating the activities of CICA are the “Declaration on the Principles Guiding Relations between CICA Member States” adopted in 1999 and the Almaty Act adopted in 2002. At the Astana Summit held in 2022, the “Astana Statement on the Transformation of CICA” initiating the process related to the transformation of CICA into a full-fledged regional international organization was adopted.
Currently, the organization has 28 members. In addition, 10 countries, as well as international organizations such as the United Nations, the OSCE, the International Organization for Migration, the League of Arab States, and the Turkic Parliamentary Assembly have observer status in CICA.
The administrative body of CICA is the Secretariat located in the city of Astana, which coordinates the daily activities of the Conference. The direction of CICA’s activities and the determination of its priorities are carried out by the Chair country.