On the eve of the SPECA summit in Baku, the ways of integration of the countries of the region are noted
The 18th session of the Governing Council of the UN Special Programme for Central Asia (SPECA) was held on November 23 in Baku, Azerbaijan.
The event, organized in honor of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Program, was attended by the heads of relevant ministries of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Hungary, as well as the heads of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
In his speech, Deputy Minister of Finance and Economy of Turkmenistan Begmyrat Allakbayev stressed the importance of expanding transport connectivity, forming a multimodal communication system for cargo transportation through Central Asia with the connection of ports of the Caspian Sea and digitalization of trade and transit procedures.
He also noted that Turkmenistan is ready to increase the volume of natural gas and electricity supplies, taking into account the growing energy needs of the SPECA countries, and called for the development of an appropriate model of practical cooperation in this area.
The session also included an exchange of views on priority issues on the agenda, common positions were developed to further strengthen the interconnectedness and multifaceted cooperation between the countries of the region.
Following the results of the event, all participants once again confirmed their readiness to continue working together to achieve their goals, a number of decisions of the SPECA Governing Council were adopted and the Work Plan of the Program for 2024-2025 was approved. The chairmanship of SPECA has passed from Azerbaijan to Tajikistan.
According to the Report, the 19th SPECA Summit will be held next year in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan.
SPECA Days will be held in Baku from November 20 to 24, 2023. On Friday, November 24, a summit at the level of heads of state of the participating countries of the UN Special Program for the Economies of Central Asia will be held here.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev invited the heads of Central Asian states to take part in the SPECA summit while in Dushanbe, where he took part in the 5th Consultative Meeting of the Heads of Central Asian States.
On November 22, Ilham Aliyev opened an exhibition of SPECA countries at the Baku Expocenter: "Regional cooperation for sustainable development", which presents the products of Turkmenistan.
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