The first Central Asian Security Forum will be held on July 13-14 in Astana: context
Kazakhstan is organizing the first Central Asian Forum on Security and Cooperation, which will be held on July 13-14 in Astana. The forum will consider the future dynamics in Asia, including in the areas of global and regional politics, economics, human capital, climate change, digital transformation and governance. It will be attended by leading international experts, as well as representatives of government and business from about 30 countries around the world.
The forum, held by the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, is intended to become a platform for dialogue and interaction of prominent thinkers and politicians to discuss the most pressing issues of security and cooperation in Asia.
The Asian region is rapidly becoming a political and geo-economic center. More than half of the world's population lives in Asia, with 21 of the 30 largest cities in the world located in this region. Asia is on its way to providing 50% of global GDP and 40% of global consumption by 2040, which indicates a real shift in the global center of gravity.
As an integral part of the broader Asian region, Central Asia will continue to play a key role in facilitating trade and cooperation not only within Asia, but also between East and West. Therefore, it is very timely that the theme of this year's forum is "Central Asia in a changing world: an agenda for the future".
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development predicts that the economies of five Central Asian countries – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan – will grow on average by at least 5.2% in 2023 and 5.4% in 2024.
Over the past 20 years, the GDP of Central Asian countries has grown more than sevenfold at an average rate of 6.2%, which is faster than in most developing countries and more than twice as fast as in the world as a whole.
The region is also striving to make full use of its transit potential. The total foreign trade turnover of the Central Asian states over the past six years has exceeded $ 200 billion. Mutual trade between the Central Asian countries is growing even faster than their total foreign trade.
Despite these positive trends, significant threats and challenges remain, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Roman Vasilenko writes in an article for the leading European journal of opinions and analytical materials Modern Diplomacy.
"Uncertainty about global changes in interest rates, inflation and commodity prices is clouding the region's long-term prospects. Water and energy supply is an issue that requires constant attention, especially taking into account climate change and its consequences, including droughts and rising temperatures, which can lead to soil degradation and deterioration of conditions for agriculture and food security," the diplomat notes.
In order for Central Asia to use the opportunities provided and successfully cope with the challenges, it is vital to strengthen cooperation between all States of the region.
Significant steps have been taken in this direction. The fourth consultative meeting of Central Asian leaders in Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyzstan, in July 2022 was an important milestone for regional cooperation.
Nevertheless, the world is changing, even compared to last year. Globalization goes hand in hand with the strengthening of regionalization. Geopolitical uncertainty has caused distrust of the world powers. New rules and mechanisms of international relations are proposed, including an updated security architecture. In this context, Asian countries should step up their cooperation in order to adapt to new realities and ensure that the region does not lag behind.
This is the context of the upcoming Central Asian Forum on Security and Cooperation next week, which will become a fundamentally new format for dialogue and interaction of prominent thinkers and politicians to discuss the most pressing topics in the field of security and cooperation in Asia.
In the future, this forum can become a regional analogue of such authoritative annual events as the Munich Security Conference, ISS-Shangri La Dialogue, Raisina Dialogue.
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