The meeting was attended by Sergey Pen, Provost of the University, Shynar Zakieva, Deputy Chair of the Board and Aydyn Abai, Head of the MIND Center. The sides exchanged views on current trends in Central Asia, including sustainable development, cross-border cooperation, and regional consolidation.

The importance of strengthening expert collaboration within the expanding "Central Asia+" format was emphasized, with recent Central Asia–EU and Central Asia–Italy summits in Tashkent and Astana highlighted as indicators of growing international interest in the region.

Special attention was given to expert support for Uzbekistan’s chairmanship of the Consultative Meeting of Central Asian Heads of State.

As a result of the talks, Javlon Vakhabov and Talgat Narikbayev signed a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at furthering joint scientific activities, collaborative research projects, the exchange of analytical materials and publications, and broadening access to academic resources.

Both sides noted that the agreement also provides for co-authored publications and the active engagement of young researchers in joint initiatives.

Maqsut Narikbayev University is one of Kazakhstan’s leading centers of academic excellence, specializing in law, international relations, and public administration. The university hosts the Center for Global and Regional Governance and the MIND Center—an expert platform under the Senate of the Republic of Kazakhstan focused on developing evidence-based public policy.