“Central Asia: One Past and a Common Future, Cooperation for Sustainable Development and Mutual Prosperity” conference will take place in Samarkand on November 10-11 under the auspices of the United Nations, the Uzbek Foreign Ministry said.

The organizers of the conference are the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan, the United Nations Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia and the Regional Office of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Central Asia.

According to the organizing committee, more than 500 experts will attend the event, including foreign ministers from Central Asian countries, high-ranking officials from the CIS countries, Europe, Asia and America, heads of more than 10 international organizations, including the UN, EU, OSCE, SCO, CIS, EBRD, about 100 world media representatives, as well as representatives of the diplomatic corps in Uzbekistan.

The UN Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs Miroslav Jenča, Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations, Assistant Administrator and Director of the Regional Bureau for Europe and the CIS of the UNDP Cihan Sultanoğlu, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission Federica Mogherini, European Commissioner for International Cooperation and development Neven Mimica, OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger, Chairman of the Executive Committee - CIS Executive Secretary Sergei Lebedev, SCO Secretary General Rashid Alimov, the heads of other international organizations.

Foreign ministers of Kazakhstan - Kairat Abdrakhmanov, Kyrgyzstan - Erlan Abdyldaev, Tajikistan - Sirodzhiddin Aslov, Turkmenistan - Rashid Meredov, as well as foreign ministers of Turkey - Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Iran - Mohammad Javad Zarif, Afghanistan - Salahuddin Rabbani, Deputy Assistant to the President and senior director for South and Central Asia of the US National Security Council Lisa Curtis and other officials of foreign countries.

It is expected that the holding of the Samarkand Conference will provide an opportunity for participants to exchange views on topical issues of security and development of the region, develop proposals on effective ways to address them.

The two-day forum will allow to discuss specific areas for enhancing cooperation between the Central Asian countries in the political, trade-economic, investment, transport-communication, water-energy, environmental and cultural-humanitarian areas, as well as the role of international organizations and partner countries in implementing regional development projects and building the capacity of countries to face modern challenges and threats.