The forecast that 21st century will be the century of Asia is now a realityAstana (ANTARA) - President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev opened the sixth Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) Summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Thursday and highlighted the role of Asian countries in the 21st century.
"The forecast that 21st century will be the century of Asia is now a reality," he said in his remarks at the opening of the 27-member intergovernmental forum.
However, Asia itself depends on its collective willingness to strengthen dialogue among cultures and traditions, he highlighted.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of CICA, which was proposed by the first President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, during the 1992 session of the United Nations General Assembly.
"Over this period, it has become platform for multilateral cooperation and international institution of modern diplomacy," he observed.
He said he hopes that the high-level meeting will discuss important global issues.
Like other regions, Asia is facing several challenges: from recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic to the energy and food crisis.
He underlined the need to form efficient corridors to remove disruptions in supply chains.
"Disruptions in global supply chains force us to take a revised look at the formation of efficient transit-transport corridors," said Tokayev, whose two-year CICA chairmanship will end soon.
Every two years, one member country is given the presidency of CICA.
On Thursday, Tokayev also stressed sustainability in international relations.
A particularly important task, he said, is to achieve sustainability in international relations in the face of emerging unprecedented threats.
Among the 27 members of the organization, some countries are involved in conflicts, such as Israel, Palestine, Russia, and Azerbaijan.
"It is critical to give a new impetus to multilateral mechanisms and to return to open dialogue," he said.
Aside from conflicts, he also pointed to the threats from climate change.
He said that climate change is leading to natural disasters that have become more unpredictable and catastrophic.
"In 2021, 57 million people in Asia were affected by them," he noted.
The global leaders who attended the summit in Astana included the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin; President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan; Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif; President of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi; and President of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas.
Indonesia, one of the forum's observers, was represented by its Ambassador for Kazakhstan and Tajikistan, Fadjroel Rachman.
Related news: Kazakhstan focuses on investment in cooperation with Indonesia
Related news: Expect coordinated G20 action on global agenda: Kazakh envoy
Related news: Kazakh President's state address outlines large-scale transformation
Reporter: Anton Santoso
Editor: Sri Haryati
Copyright © ANTARA 2022
