The seventh summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) will take place in Baku today. Representatives of the organisation’s 28 member states will discuss regional security, transport routes and digital cooperation. The platform holds particular significance for Kazakhstan, which proposed its establishment more than 30 years ago. In 2022, member states adopted the Astana Statement on transforming CICA into a fully fledged regional international organization. A draft charter is now being prepared. Member states are also strengthening practical cooperation, particularly in the digitalisation of transport. Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan are developing joint transport routes and working to improve the efficiency of international freight operations. Electronic data exchange is essential to accelerating cargo flows.
«Each country is working to digitalise its section of the route. These efforts need to be synchronized to create a unified ecosystem. Meanwhile, meetings on the Middle Corridor are regularly held in Astana, Baku, Tbilisi and Ankara. I believe we will see tangible results in this area in the coming years,» said Rauf Aghamirzayev, a transport and logistics expert from Azerbaijan.
Energy security is another area of cooperation within CICA. Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan are developing a green energy corridor project that would connect their power grids via an undersea cable laid along the Caspian seabed. The project would expand opportunities for electricity transmission between the countries.
«We could also supply electricity to Europe via an undersea cable across the Black Sea or through Georgia and Türkiye, for example. Kazakhstan has excellent prospects because in four to five years, it will become not only an exporter of green energy to major global markets but also a transit country,» said Ilham Shaban, head of the Center for Oil Studies in Azerbaijan.
Digital cooperation will also be a key focus. CICA’s future priorities are expected to be outlined in the Baku Declaration.
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