CICA Secretariat opens office in Astana

    Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yerlan Idrissov on October 28 participated in the ceremonial opening of the new office of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) Secretariat in Astana, the official website of the prime minister reports.
    Those attending included Executive Director of the CICA Secretariat Gong Jianwei and the CICA delegations who were participating in a meeting of the Special Working Group and CICA Senior Officials' Committee.
    "We must be proud of the fact that our organization has been operating successfully for more than 20 years. Over this period, CICA has proven to be an authoritative and relevant dialogue platform for solution of pressing issues on the regional and international agendas. To date, CICA has been one of the most authoritative inter-state forums in Asia, uniting 26 countries, 8 observer states and a number of international organizations," said Idrissov.
    The minister reminded those present that the idea to convene the CICA session came from President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan on October 5, 1992 from the rostrum at the United Nations General Assembly. The initiative was based on an aspiration to ensure peace, security and stability in Asia, officials say.
    "It is gratifying to see that Nazarbayev's idea has been transformed into an efficiently-functioning forum for ensuring peace and stability in Asia. We jointly set big goals and the potential of CICA has strengthened significantly to reach these goals," the minister said.
    Gong Jianwei in turn said he appreciated CICA’s efforts to strengthen the spirit of cooperation and confidence in Asia, stressing the growing activity of member countries in forum’s initiatives.
    He also thanked Kazakhstan for its leadership and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the constant support provided for the efforts of the CICA Secretariat, according to the Times of Central Asia.