On March 31, 2022, at the Yyldyz Hotel in Ashgabat, the Embassy of Uzbekistan held a briefing on the chairmanship of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the SCO in 2022.
The event was attended by the heads of foreign diplomatic missions and international organizations, representatives of government agencies, public organizations and the media of Turkmenistan.
During the event, the participants were acquainted with the main priorities of the chairmanship of Uzbekistan in the SCO in 2022. and new initiatives of the leadership of the republic, aimed at the subsequent build-up of multifaceted cooperation within the framework of the “SCO family”.
It was emphasized that the chairmanship of Uzbekistan in the SCO falls at a very important stage in the development of this organization, both taking into account the peculiarities of its internal dynamics, and in the light of fundamental changes in the region and the world as a whole.
In this regard, Uzbekistan carefully and with a high degree of responsibility implements the intended goals within the framework of its honorable mission.
It was noted that based on its constructive domestic policy, the peaceful and constructive nature of Uzbekistan’s foreign policy aspirations, official Tashkent prioritized in the SCO the issues of using the capabilities of this organization to comprehensively promote international cooperation for the sake of world peace, while strictly adhering to the principles of maintaining openness and non-direction ” SCO platform” against third states and other structures.
Separate attention within the framework of the Uzbek chairmanship is paid to the comprehensive expansion of constructive interaction with the UN.
The participants were informed that the leadership of the SCO highly appreciates the role of the Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia in building trust and mutually beneficial cooperation in Central Asia, which is in line with the goals and values of our organization.
In this regard, the participants were familiarized with the decision adopted by the heads of the SCO member states on awarding the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General, head of UNRCCA N. Gherman with the anniversary medal “20 years of the SCO” in recognition of her special merits in strengthening peace, stability, security and common prosperity in Central Asia, as well as deepening cooperation between the SCO and the UN.
The above-mentioned medal and certificate were presented to the head of UNRCCA N. Gherman in a solemn ceremony.
In her speech, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General highly appreciated the chairmanship of Uzbekistan in the SCO, as well as the work carried out by Uzbekistan for the comprehensive development and expansion of good neighborly relations in the Central Asian region.
The head of the UNRCCA also thanked the SCO Secretary General V.Norov (2019-2021) for the development of cooperation between the UN and the SCO.
Speaking about the prospects for cooperation between the UN and the SCO, she stressed that the Regional Center would continue to involve SCO partners, including representatives of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure, in activities aimed at implementing the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy in Central Asia on the basis of the Joint Action Plan adopted at the high-level meeting in Tashkent in March 2022.
At the end of her speech, N. Gherman expressed confidence that cooperation would be further strengthened during the current chairmanship of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
As part of the briefing, a presentation was also made of the results of the 1st Tashkent International Investment Forum (TMIF), which took place on March 24-26, 2022.
It was noted that TMIF was the first event of its kind in the Central Asian region and in the world as a whole, which took place in difficult conditions of an unprecedented increase in geopolitical tensions in the international arena.
It was emphasized that today, the reformatting of established world economic systems, the disruption of the supply chain and the restructuring of logistics routes in a world that is still not recovering from the negative consequences of the pandemic, which is taking place before our eyes, pose serious risks to the growth of the global economy, the well-being of citizens of all countries of the world.
Under these conditions, the government of Uzbekistan decided not to change the earlier decision and tried to gather representatives of all interested parties under a single roof, as well as to call on the international community for constructive cooperation for the sake of peace and universal development.
As a result, TMIF has become a truly large-scale business event, bringing together more than 2 thousand participants – major investors and high-ranking guests from 56 countries of the world.
The practical outcome of the Forum was the signing of a package of firm contracts and investment agreements for the implementation of mutually beneficial projects in Uzbekistan in the amount of 7.8 billion dollars. Preliminary agreements were also reached on the implementation of projects worth $3.5 billion.
Thus, TMIF was able to declare itself as a large-scale communication platform for strengthening and developing interregional and international relations. It has simultaneously become a powerful catalyst for interregional investment and foreign economic cooperation.
Confidence was expressed that TMIF would become a permanent platform for attracting foreign investment and modern technologies to the economy of both Uzbekistan and the entire Central Asian region, as well as identifying areas of mutual interest to establish direct links between entrepreneurs in the region and foreign business circles.
At the end of the official part of the event, the guests were invited to a reception in honor of the chairmanship of Uzbekistan in the SCO. /// Embassy of Uzbekistan in Ashgabat, 1 April 2022