“Central Asia today is turning into one of the most important geopolitical centers of the modern world and unique geographical nodes,” said President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, speaking at the Fifth Consultative Meeting of the Heads of Central Asian States
In his opinion, it is no coincidence that within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the heads of state of this trans-regional organization have been confirming the imperative that “Central Asia is the core of the SCO” for many years.
Rahmon drew the attention of his colleagues to the fact that the region enjoys increased interest from the leading world and regional powers. More than ten “Central Asia-plus” formats created confirm this reality.
In these circumstances, he called on the leaders of Central Asia to show the unity of Central Asia and take more active steps towards integration within the region.
“It is in our interests to fully and in all directions to unleash our region-wide potential and turn the “plus” into concrete projects in all areas of cooperation,” the President of Tajikistan continued.
In this regard, Tajikistan considers it necessary to instruct the Governments of the countries of the region to develop specific proposals for the joint development of Central Asia in accordance with regional and country specifics and, within the framework of existing mechanisms, to offer them to external partners.
According to Rahmon, the security factor is the most important condition for the successful implementation of creative plans and initiatives.
In this context, the President of Tajikistan expressed concern about the situation on the border with Afghanistan, the growing threat from terrorist groups and increasing drug trafficking.
Meanwhile, he assured that Tajikistan will continue to provide its border infrastructure and logistics capabilities to deliver targeted assistance to the people of Afghanistan.
Speaking about the potential of economic cooperation, the President underlined the need to find new points of joint growth, and also proposed to develop separate cooperation programs in the fields of agriculture, industry and the active introduction of new technologies within the region.
“In order to get the maximum effect from the development of international cargo transportation, we propose to develop a concept for the integration of logistics centers of Central Asian countries,” Emomali Rahmon went on saying.
In the sector of cultural and humanitarian cooperation, the head of Tajikistan expressed the idea of creating an Association of Mass Media of Central Asian states.
He drew the attention of colleagues to the fact that the media space is sometimes filled with very different, sometimes contradictory and distorted information about the state of affairs in the region. “It is necessary to take measures to create an informational atmosphere of genuine friendship and cooperation in the region, based on real facts, not speculation,” Rahmon said. ///nCa, 15 September 2023
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