CA and Gulf Arab cooperation council: priorities and prospects

The International Institute of Central Asia hosted a round table on the theme Central Asia and the Gulf Cooperation Council: Priorities and Prospects. The participants discussed the results of the first summit of the Heads of State of Central Asia and the Gulf Cooperation Council held in Jeddah and outlined priority areas for strengthening ties between the regions.

The event was attended by heads of diplomatic missions and senior diplomats from the Gulf countries. The participants exchanged views on the areas of cooperation between Central Asian countries and the Gulf States in politics, security, economics, trade, investment, energy, transportation, agriculture, ecology, and others.

Over the past six years, Central Asia has boosted investment cooperation, and significant mutual projects have been launched in trade, industry, energy, transportation, agriculture, cultural and humanitarian spheres, and other sectors. Today, the total portfolio of joint projects in Uzbekistan with leading companies and banks from member states exceeds $20 billion. These changes have resulted in the consistent development of coordinated positions on intra-regional issues, close coordination on international platforms, and building relations with leading states within the framework of the "Central Asia Plus" dialogue format.

As announced during the meeting, the second Central Asian Summit will be hosted in Samarkand next year. The experts and heads of diplomatic missions actively discussed the preparations for the upcoming high-level political event and the necessary steps to be taken. The speakers expressed the need to increase cooperation in a wide range of areas of mutual interest. In particular, the creation of platforms and working mechanisms of cooperation in innovation, "artificial" intelligence, the "green" economy, digitalization, "smart" agriculture, nano- and biotechnology, and others.

The Kazakh side emphasized that logistics is one of the essential aspects that the CA and Gulf states need to pay attention to.