The Uzbekistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that foreign ministers from the “Central Asia – Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Dialogue” will convene in Tashkent on April 15 to prepare for next year’s summit of dialogue country leaders.
According to the Uzbek foreign ministry’s statement, the ministers will discuss preparations for the “Central Asia – GCC” summit, slated to take place next year in the Uzbek city of Samarkand.
Delegations from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE, Oman, and Saudi Arabia are expected to participate in the meeting.
The ministers aim to review the progress of agreements made during the first summit of the participating states held on July 19, 2023, in Jeddah.
Furthermore, the meeting will focus on enhancing cooperation in political areas, trade, economy, investment, transportation, telecommunications, cultural and humanitarian fields, as well as environmental protection and safety.
This upcoming ministerial meeting in Tashkent follows the inaugural meeting of this kind, which took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in September 2022, marking a continued effort to strengthen ties between Central Asian countries and the GCC members.
Earlier this month, the GCC nations unveiled plans to adopt a unified strategy to support food security projects amidst global challenges facing the sector, according to Faisal Al Ruwais, the head of the Gulf Chambers Union.
Al Ruwais emphasized the necessity for the strategy to focus on developing agricultural, livestock, and fisheries projects to add value to the food industries, enabling GCC countries to achieve sustainable food security for their citizens.
He added that challenges such as climate change, water scarcity, natural disasters, and increasing population growth in the coming years have compelled Gulf governments to implement stringent policies to curb the export of agricultural and livestock products, aiming to achieve self-sufficiency in their countries.
