The meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) kicked off today in the Kokhi Somon Palace of the capital of Tajikistan, Dushanbe.
In the meeting was present the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
The heads of state first held a round table, during which the leaders made remarks.
President Mirziyoyev highlighted that against the backdrop of the current global trends and enhanced global threats, the CIS’s relevance as an important platform for strengthening multifaceted cooperation is once again confirmed.
"The past year marked the beginning of a fundamentally new stage in Uzbekistan’s role within the CIS. Uzbekistan has joined more than 10 sectoral cooperation bodies, covering such spheres as economy, energy, science and innovation, fighting crime. Year–to-date, the trade between Uzbekistan and the CIS countries had grown rapidly".
“We believe that in order to ensure growth of trade turnover, we need to simplify customs procedures as much as possible, eliminate all existing trade restrictions, including technical barriers."
"Uzbekistan’s initiatives serve for the development of cooperation between the CIS countries in trade and economic, transport, communication, cultural, humanitarian and other areas."
"Our countries must be ready for concerted, preventive actions to rpmptly and effectively repel the terrorist threats. I consider it important to strengthen the coordination of law enforcement agencies and special services to prevent emerging security threats."
"We must focus on the problem of radicalization among the youth. In this regard, it is necessary to expand cooperation in education, social support to the younger generation and strive to protect their rights and interests and create conditions for their self-realization".
“The Afghan conflict as a common challenge for most of the CIS countries. The CIS can play an important role for the political settlement of the Afghan problem.”
Shavkat Mirziyoyev said that Uzbekistan was ready to host the next CIS Summit in 2020.