Uzbekistan, UN to hold a conference on Central Asia in 2019

In February 2019, Uzbekistan and the United Nations will hold a conference in Tashkent on the theme "Central Asia - new opportunities and prospects for regional cooperation" before the meeting of the heads of state, Gazeta.uz reported referring to the Deputy Foreign Minister Dilshod Akhatov.

On October 29, the first meeting of the Central Asian expert forum was held in Tashkent with the participation of heads of regional strategic research centers in the country. The event was organized by the Institute for strategic and international researches (ISIR) at the President of Uzbekistan and the Regional center of UN for preventive diplomacy for Central Asia (RCPDCA).

According to Dilshod Akhatov, international political scientists, experts from well-known analytical centers of Central Asia, Russia, China, the USA, Europe, as well as representatives of leading international organizations and financial institutions are expected to attend the conference.

Natalia Gherman, Special Representative of the UN secretary-general, head of the RCPDCA, noted that the conference, in turn, will allow developing proposals for the agenda of the second consultative meeting of the heads of Central Asian states. This meeting is scheduled for March 2019 in Tashkent.

The director of ISIR, Vladimir Norov, opening the expert forum, expressed his opinion that it would be advisable for the Central Asian countries to formulate a common strategic concept for the medium and long-term perspectives of regional cooperation.

In March, the first consultative meeting of the heads of state of the Central Asian countries was held in Astana. For the first time, the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev expressed the idea to hold an informal meeting of leaders of the region while speaking at the 72nd session of the UN’s General assembly in September 2017.