Central Asia Has Chosen the Path to Cooperation in a Divided World: How This is Reflected in Figures
“In a divided world, it is gratifying that Central Asia is choosing a different path – the path of cooperation and unification around common solutions,” these words of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres were quoted by CIS Deputy Secretary-General Ilkhom Nematov, speaking at the session “Central Asia as a Region for New Views and Formats of Interaction” of the 1st Central Asian Economic Forum in Dushanbe.
Speaking about the topic of the panel session, Ilkhom Nematov emphasized: “It is safe to say that its very name reveals the global transformations taking place in almost all spheres of life in the Central Asian region.”
“In the CIS, Central Asia has truly become a region for new views and formats of interaction. The region’s economic growth is 6.2%, with the world average being 2.6%. The GDP of the Central Asian states increased 1.6 times from $273 billion to almost $500 billion. The foreign trade of the Central Asian countries increased more than 2 times from $112 billion to $253 billion,” Ilkhom Nematov noted.
The CIS Deputy Secretary General noted that thanks to the political will of the leaders of the Central Asian countries, it was possible to create an atmosphere of friendship, trust and good neighborliness in the region, decisively giving priority to a reasonable compromise approach in resolving complex issues. In a short period, the countries of the region managed to resolve issues of state borders, water use and joint use of transport communications. That is, Central Asia is gradually turning into a space of new opportunities, convergence of interests and inclusive cooperation.
A reflection of the positive changes in the region are the created dialogue formats “Central Asia Plus”. Today, more than 10 such dialogue platforms are functioning with almost 40 countries and two regional organizations.
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