Kazakhstan to hand over CICA chairmanship to Azerbaijan

Kazakhstan willofficially hand over the Chairmanship of the Conference onInteraction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) toAzerbaijan at the Seventh Ministerial Council (MC) meeting, set totake place online on December 17, 2024, reports. This marks the conclusion of Kazakhstan's 2020-2024 tenure andthe beginning of Azerbaijan's 2024-2026 Chairmanship. The foreign ministers of CICA’s 28 Member States will discusspressing regional and global issues, including peace, security, andthe evolving geopolitical landscape.

The meeting is also expectedto result in the adoption of key documents, including a statementmarking the 25th anniversary of CICA’s founding principlesestablished in 1999. Among the anticipated outcomes is the creation of a CICA networkof universities to promote academic and scientific cooperation, aproposal initially introduced by Kazakh President Kassym-JomartTokayev in 2022. Additionally, ministers are expected to expandconfidence-building measures (CBMs) by including volunteerism as anew area of collaboration and adopting a framework to enhance theeffectiveness of CBMs.



Azerbaijan will host the next CICA Summit in 2026, concludingits Chairmanship term..