CHOLPON-ATA, Kyrgyzstan, July 31. Azerbaijan's
accession to the Central Asian countries' consultative meetings
format takes cooperation to a qualitatively new macro-regional
level, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev stated at the
informal "Central Asia – Azerbaijan" Consultative Meeting in
Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyzstan, Trend's special correspondent reports.
"We are facing a historic opportunity to create a unified
development space uniting Central Asia, the South Caucasus, and our
close neighbor, Afghanistan. We must fully utilize this momentum
and, through joint efforts, lay a solid foundation for sustainable
development, connectivity, and good-neighborliness in the heart of
Eurasia," he said.
According to the President of Uzbekistan, coordination within
intergovernmental organizations in the Central Asia Plus format
should be strengthened, strengthening the region's international
standing.
"Substantive work requires further steps to strengthen trade,
economic, and transport connectivity, build up end-to-end
industrial and technological chains, develop common digital
services, and launch an investment platform. Central Asia must
become a competitive hub for education, science, and innovation in
big data. We can achieve this by creating a comprehensive
infrastructure that integrates human resources, artificial
intelligence technologies, data centers, and energy capacity,"
Mirziyoyev noted.
According to him, environmental protection has always been and
remains a priority on the regional agenda.
"The challenges emerging in our shared natural space do not
recognize national borders, which means the responses to them must
be shared. This summer's heat wave anomaly once again demonstrated
that climate change is already becoming a factor directly affecting
the economy, water and energy security, human health, and quality
of life. It is important to find a long-term solution for joint
adaptation to these new risks. Among the unwavering priorities of
our cooperation are the humanitarian dimensions," he added.
