On February 24 this year, ISRS Director Eldor Aripov met with the Founder and Chairman of the Gulf Research Center Abdulaziz Sager.

For information: Abdulaziz Sager holds a PhD in political science from Lancaster University (UK). He is the author of numerous publications on international relations, security and economics.

A wide range of issues on the global and regional agenda were discussed. New trends in the world determine the growth of mutual interest between the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and Central Asia.

Based on the traditions of the centuries-old exchanges of the peoples of the two regions, the parties seek to engage the enormous potential of trade and economic, investment and cultural and humanitarian interaction.

Recently, the Arab countries actively invest in various sectors of the regional economy of the states, paying special attention to energy, infrastructure, agriculture and high technologies. In particular, their investment in Central Asia over the past ten years has increased almost a third, and exports increased by more than a third.

In addition to the bilateral track, cooperation in the interregional format is actively developing. This is evidenced by the first summit of the heads of state of Central Asia and the Gulf Cooperation Council, which took place in July 2023. At it, the leaders of the countries approved the Joint Action Plan until 2027.

In order to ensure the practical implementation of the initiatives and proposals voiced by the heads of state, an agreement was reached between ISRS and the Gulf Research Center on the joint organization of the first forum of analytical centers of Central Asia and Gulf Cooperation Council countries (GCC) on the eve of the Second GCC+CA Summit, which will be held in Uzbekistan.

It is expected that during the meeting, representatives of leading research institutions will discuss further prospects for multilateral cooperation in areas of mutual interest and develop specific proposals aimed at further deepening mutually beneficial partnership.

Gulf Research Center (GRC) is a leading think tank founded in 2000. GRC specializes in research on social, economic and political aspects of the Gulf countries. The center is among the top 150 global think tanks in the field of international relations. It has the status of an accredited observer at the UN ECOSOC and UNEP. Collaborates with more than 90 analytical structures from Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe and the USA.