Uzbekistan and the UN will in February 2019 hold a conference entitled New Opportunities and Prospects for Regional Cooperation in Tashkent ahead of the informal summit of the Central Asian states, Uzbek Deputy Foreign Minister Dilshod Akhatov said on Monday at the meeting of the Central Asian Expert Forum which kicked off in Tashkent on Monday.
The meeting of the Expert Forum is organized by the Strategic and International Studies Institute (SISI) under the President of Uzbekistan and the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA ) and is attended by scholars, experts of the research institutes in the countries of the region.
According to Dilshod Akhatov, political scientists and experts from prominent think tanks in Central Asia, Russia, China, the United States, Europe, as well as representatives of major international organizations and financial institutions are expected to attend the conference.
Natalia German, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, head of the UNRCCA, noted that the conference, in turn, would make it possible to develop proposals for the agenda of the second consultative meeting of the heads of state of Central Asian countries, scheduled for March 2019 in Tashkent.
Director of SISI, Vladimir Norov in his opening remarks expressed the opinion that it would be advisable for the countries of Central Asia to work out a common regional cooperation for the medium and long-term strategy concept.
The first consultative meeting of the heads of state of the Central Asian countries was held in March in Astana.
