Speaking at the 8th Central Asian Expert Forum, Deputy Director of the National Institute of Strategic Initiatives under the President of the Kyrgyz Republic, Shumkarbek Adilbek uulu, stated that “Central Asia today is no longer a fragmented collection of states, but an increasingly cohesive region with common aspirations”.

“In today’s interconnected world, regional cooperation is not just beneficial, it is essential”, the expert believes. According to him, “the challenges of our time require the region not only to adapt but also to engage in closer cooperation. Our resilience and development lie in unity”.

At the same time, integration, the expert asserted, “is not the loss of our national identity, but its strengthening through cooperation. We have the power to make Central Asia a region of opportunities for our peoples and for future generations”, concluded the NISI Deputy Director.

It should be recalled that the CAEF is organized by the ISRS. The event’s partners are the UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia, the Delegation of the European Union to Uzbekistan, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

Central Asia is traditionally represented at the forum by the heads and specialists of strategic institutions, research centers, and academic circles from the region’s states. For the first time, prominent experts from the EU, ASEAN, the Nordic Council, as well as researchers from Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Azerbaijan, have been invited to participate, to exchange experience in regional studies.