The First Forum of Think Tanks of Central Asian Countries and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) opened in Tashkent on Monday, April 28. The forum aims to set new directions for interregional cooperation and is being held under the timely and ambitious theme, "Strengthening Strategic Partnership: From Historical Ties to Comprehensive Cooperation," highlighting a commitment to qualitative growth in relations, reports Orient.tm.
The forum is organized by the Institute for Strategic and Regional Studies under the President of Uzbekistan and the leading Saudi research center, the Gulf Research Center.
More than 70 highly qualified and respected experts from Central Asian states and GCC countries have gathered in Tashkent. Representatives of the GCC Secretariat, the diplomatic corps, and business communities from both expansive and strategically important macro-regions were also invited to the discussions. Turkmenistan is represented at this significant forum by Shiri Shiriev, Director of the Center for Strategic Studies of the Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, and senior researcher Bekdurdy Amansariyev.
The forum’s agenda focuses on reviewing the key aspects of the current state and developing prospects for future cooperation between Central Asian countries and the Gulf states. Participants are paying close attention to strengthening political dialogue, coordinating unified approaches to regional security, and ways to deepen trade and investment ties. Special emphasis is placed on implementing promising joint projects in the rapidly growing field of "green" energy and the strategic development of transport corridors connecting the two regions.
Among the main expected practical outcomes of the forum is the adoption of a joint statement, which should become an important guideline for further partnership, as well as the signing of several memoranda of cooperation between leading think tanks from Central Asia and the GCC. It is expected that these documents will lay a solid foundation for establishing systematic, long-term, and fruitful collaboration between the expert communities of the two regions, fostering regular knowledge exchange and joint analytical work.
Moreover, the recommendations developed during the Tashkent forum are intended to make a significant and direct contribution to shaping and enriching the agenda of the Second Summit of Leaders in the "Central Asia – GCC" format, scheduled to take place in the historic city of Samarkand. This clearly demonstrates the practical value of the expert dialogue and its direct connection to the decision-making process on major political and economic issues at the highest level.
Overall, the work of the First Think Tanks Forum in Tashkent is intended to make a significant contribution to strengthening long-term and multifaceted strategic partnerships between Central Asia and the Gulf countries. The event not only revives and updates the shared historical and cultural heritage but also sets new, clear benchmarks for developing comprehensive and mutually beneficial dialogue between the two macro-regions in response to modern global challenges.
CentralasianLIGHT.org
April 28, 2025