The First Summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council and Central Asian countries in Jeddah became an important event on the path of development and expansion of cooperation in all areas of mutual interest between the countries of Central Asia and the Middle East, which are members of this authoritative regional organization.

The basis for cooperation in this format was laid at the first ministerial meeting of “CA+GCC” in Riyadh on September 7, 2022, with the participation of the Foreign Ministers of the Gulf countries – Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, and Qatar, as well as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan.

Following the meeting, the parties agreed to intensify cooperation in such areas as mutual trade and investment, transport and logistics; strengthening food, energy, and water security; development of green energy; solving environmental problems and the effects of climate change; exchange of best practices in all areas; development of appropriate trade and investment mechanisms.

Bringing the format of cooperation to the level of presidents, of course, opens up completely new opportunities for enhancing multifaceted cooperation within the framework of the “CA+GCC”. It is another confirmation of the successful development of the “CA+” dialogue formats, increasing the regional subjectivity of Central Asia in the system of international relations.

Undoubtedly, the holding of this summit represents the practical implementation of the provisions of the Concept of Interaction of the Central Asian States within the framework of multilateral formats, adopted following the results of the 4th Consultative Meeting of the Leaders of Central Asian States on July 20-21, 2022 in Cholpan-Ata.

New initiatives and proposals put forward by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev during the summit are of great practical importance for solving current issues on the regional and global agenda.

In particular, in the political sphere, the Leader of Uzbekistan noted the importance of developing large-scale cooperation in various formats and proposed to study the issue of developing a multilateral agreement on friendship, regional connectivity and cooperation.

The President of Uzbekistan called for jointly combating the islamophobia observed in the world, taking practical steps in this direction within the framework of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, updated the tasks of strengthening contacts in the fight against terrorism, extremism, radicalism and drug trafficking, as well as in protecting youth from the spread of such threats via the Internet and other means.

Touching upon the issues of peace in Afghanistan, the Head of state noted that our regions should be active and draw the attention of the entire world community to the problems of Afghanistan from high rostrums to make life easier for the Afghan people.

The Leader of Uzbekistan also called on partners to take an active part in the strategic project for the construction of the Trans-Afghan Railway, which will connect the Gulf states with Central Asia along the shortest route.

In general, the results of the First Summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council and Central Asian countries demonstrated the commitment of the leaders of the Central Asian and Gulf states to unite and use the existing political and economic potential to increase cooperation and connectivity, increase the global importance of the regions, solve common tasks to achieve sustainable growth, ensure security and stability at the regional and global levels.

Abror Fatkhullayev, 

Department Head,

Institute for Strategic and Regional Studies under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan.