WELCOME SPEECH

at the conference: "Uzbekistan - Kyrgyzstan: Synergy of Strategic Partnership"

Dear conference participants,

Dear guests from brotherly Kyrgyzstan,

Dear friends!

First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the delegation of the National Institute of Strategic Initiatives under the President of the Kyrgyz Republic and personally to the Director, Sanjar Turdukozhoyevich Mukambetov, for participating in the organization and work of our scientific-practical conference.

It is especially valuable that our event is taking place on the eve of the state visit to Uzbekistan by the President of the Kyrgyz Republic, esteemed Sadyr Nurgozhoyevich Japarov.

In this regard, the main task of our forum today is to exchange views on the prospects for further development of the comprehensive strategic partnership established by the leaders of our countries in January 2023 during the historic state visit of the President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, to Kyrgyzstan.

Rebooting bilateral relations and overcoming a number of contradictions in a short period since March 2021, when President S. Japarov made his first state visit to Uzbekistan, was made possible solely thanks to the political will of our leaders, who were able to overcome past stereotypes of relations, find mutually beneficial compromises, and ensure the clear implementation of agreements.

As a result of these joint efforts, the border issue was resolved, including the signing and ratification in 2022 of the Treaty on Certain Sections of the State Border and the Agreement on the Joint Management of the Andijan/Kempir-Abad Reservoir.

This was undoubtedly facilitated by the unprecedentedly high dynamics of direct and productive communication between the heads of state, who even used holiday greetings to discuss key issues of advancing strategic partnership and practical cooperation.

The radical improvement of Uzbek-Kyrgyz relations and the overall improvement of the political situation in our region has undoubtedly become one of the key factors convincing our Chinese partners of the feasibility of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway construction project.

The signing on June 6 of this year of the agreement on the construction of the railway was also the result of coordinated interaction between Tashkent and Bishkek with the Chinese side, both in contacts between the heads of state and at the levels of heads of government, ministers, and other officials.

In this regard, the accuracy of the high assessments of bilateral relations expressed by the leaders of our countries is beyond doubt.

In the words of the President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, "Today we have no problematic issues. For the first time in the independent history of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, relations have reached such a level."

In turn, the President of Kyrgyzstan, Sadyr Japarov, particularly noted that "for Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan is a close neighbor in spirit, a true friend, and a reliable strategic partner."

Dear colleagues,

When formulating the title of our conference, we proceeded from the fact that synergy or the unification of the efforts of our two countries in the current conditions of global geopolitical tension is absolutely necessary to solve the problems of ensuring stability and sustainable development facing Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and the entire region.

During the first session, we propose to discuss key approaches and main directions for deepening the comprehensive strategic partnership.

First of all, further efforts are needed to strengthen mutual political trust, which implies the intensification of political dialogue involving official and expert circles. 

It is also important to deepen exchanges on further advancing regional cooperation, including increasing the effectiveness of Consultative Meetings and interactions in the "Central Asia plus" formats. For our countries, this is especially important in the context of the upcoming meeting of heads of state in Astana and the first summits with Japan and the European Union.

The second session of our forum is devoted to exchanging views on coordinating approaches to cooperation in trade, economic, transport, energy, environmental, and water use areas.

In these key areas of our practical cooperation, there are already many achievements and even more expectations for the implementation of important infrastructure and investment projects.

First of all, high stakes are associated with the implementation of the flagship project of building the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway, which can have a profound transformative impact on the entire transport system and geopolitics across the vast expanse of Eurasia.

Another regional priority is the construction of the Kambarata
HPP-1. The implementation of this first trilateral mega-project in the modern history of Central Asia with Kazakhstan will not only create a solid foundation for the sustainable development of our countries and give a powerful impetus to the development of bilateral cooperation but also become an example of mutually beneficial and sustainable resolution of water and energy problems in the region.

Moreover, in the context of deteriorating water resource situations, sharp climate changes, rising temperatures, and decreasing precipitation leading to reduced water volumes in rivers and reservoirs, we need to develop new mutually acceptable measures for rational water use.

In this regard, we expect the invited sectoral specialists to analyze the problems and provide well-founded proposals for promoting these and other promising cooperation projects.

In the third session, the main focus is on strengthening friendship and, in general, the humanitarian foundation of our strategic partnership through strengthening cooperation in education, science, culture, and tourism. We expect new interesting proposals that take into account the existing advantages of common history, similarities in cultural and spiritual values, language, and ethnic identity, which serve as the foundation for strong and respectful relations between our countries and peoples.

Moreover, the forefront of humanitarian interaction between our countries is the border regions of the two countries. We expect online connections from the Andijan, Fergana, and Jizzakh regions, whose representatives will bring our discussion closer to the ground.

Dear conference participants!

Overall, it can be confidently said that bilateral trustful and constructive relations between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan have acquired a systematic and intensive character.

In this regard, our expert communities face the task of developing proposals for expanding practical cooperation and its new key directions, including transforming Central Asia into an interconnected and cohesive community of countries capable of independently addressing bilateral and regional agenda issues.

I wish the participants of today's discussion fruitful work, rich professional communication, and good results!

Thank you for your attention!