Conference in Uzbekistan: Consequences of the events in Afghanistan for the countries of Central and South Asia, the need to consolidate efforts, their importance and geostrategic significance

A month has passed since a high-level conference was held in Tashkent at the initiative of the President of Uzbekistan: "Central and South Asia: regional interconnectedness. Challenges and opportunities". Demonstrating consistency and determination in ensuring sustainable implementation of various joint international projects proposed by the leader of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and aiming to determine their practical prospects, Tashkent initiated an international scientific-practical conference on "Interconnection of Central and South Asia: preconditions, perspectives, geostrategic significance ".

The geography of the participants of this event demonstrated the importance and relevance of the issues discussed by the organizers, not only for Asian countries, but also for many countries far beyond the region. The conference, organized by the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the University of World Economy and Diplomacy, was held on August 18 in a mixed offline and online mode, with the participation of representatives from eighteen countries.

The conference was attended by representatives of the leadership of the Senates of Central Asia, representatives of the leadership of Ministries, diplomatic missions, parliamentarians of Central and South Asia, leading international experts, public and political figures from around the world.

The events, which have been very dynamic in Afghanistan in recent days, have added additional weight to this event and the importance of the discussions results. It was predictably felt that this made its adjustments in the report of the conference speakers, in their determination of the main accents.

At the same time, the proposals made by the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev at the July Tashkent conference became even more significant. During the speeches of representatives from different countries, it was felt, for now, non-alternatives and importance for the practical implementation of this conditional "road map" of joint action. The issues were more limited to assessing the feasibility of each proposals, taking into account the "new Afghan realities".

At the invitation of the First Deputy Chairman of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan Sadyk Safiev, Deputy Chairman of the Baltic-Black Sea Economic Forum Volodymyr Makukha took part in the international scientific-practical conference.

During his speech at the conference, Volodymyr Makukha, in particular, emphasized the following:

• the initiatives of the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev are important for their complex and comprehensive approach. They demonstrate the importance of each of the proposed areas and emphasize that there are no secondary issues for sustainable development, preservation and strengthening of peace and mutual trust between countries;
• their effective implementation largely depends on the effective work of diplomatic missions of Uzbekistan, where, as an example, we can cite the coordinated, active and very effective work of all diplomats of the Embassy of Uzbekistan in Ukraine. Thanks to this, in Ukraine there is an impression that fraternal Uzbekistan is very close, at arm's length;
• discussions at all announced sections of this international scientific-practical conference should be similarly considered as a whole, as interconnected with each other. Food security issues and actions on preventing famine in Afghanistan are both about building an efficient transport and logistics infrastructure and working closely together in agriculture areas. At the same time, Volodymyr Makukha noted the readiness of Ukrainian farmers to take an active part in the region's food programs, including those held under the UN auspices. In particular, it was noted that cooperation should not be limited to the supply of agricultural products and other foodstuffs, but should be broader, in particular, in the supply of raw materials for the production of goods, in the use of modern scientific advances in developing new types of environmental goods, where Ukraine has its own products to improve the quality of soil fertility, typical for Asian countries;
• During the July Tashkent conference and a series of organized personal meetings, it was possible to see the ability of representatives of various ministries and departments of Uzbekistan to effectively and quickly implement the initiatives of the honoured Shavkat Mirziyoyev. The results of these meetings added some optimism and showed professionalism, modern thinking and progress in their work. Noting the fact that the President of Uzbekistan has a very strong and effective team, represented in the Ministries, state committees and institutions, it is one of the foundations of Uzbekistan's effective role at the international level, where it secures the status of one of the leaders in the region. An example is the high professional level of the leadership of the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the results of the meetings with which gave the opportunity to state with optimism that the team of the President of Uzbekistan has an effective customs service capable of ensuring internal security in its areas of responsibility (in particular, economic security) and to ensure effective work on the implementation of international economic projects and effective communication with the customs services of partner countries;
• Regarding the development of the transport and logistics sector, given the fruitful meeting held during the July Tashkent conference at the Ministry of Transport of the Republic of Uzbekistan, additional growth points can be identified to ensure the implementation of the initiatives of the honoured Shavkat Mirziyoyev. Moreover, although only a month has passed, certain steps have already been taken to implement them mutually. This is the use of new opportunities that open up for transport and logistics companies in Uzbekistan, thanks to new formats of cooperation with reliable partners of the Baltic-Black Sea Economic Forum - the modern Kazakh port of Kuryk and Turkmen transport and logistics company TML and modern port of Turkmenbashi. Last spring, during the significant restrictions associated with COVID, they demonstrated how to effectively solve complex transport problems and ensure the efficient movement of goods, including Uzbek ones, between countries. In addition, one of the important and effective mechanisms to ensure effective progress was the implementation of the initiative of international partnership in education and science of Tashkent State Transport University through Kherson State Maritime Academy with its powerful science park, their effective tandem with Lithuanian State Maritime Academy and way out to the entire established international partner network of academies and universities from the Baltic to the eastern shores of the Caspian Sea;
• emphasis was placed on the expediency of using the experience of Ukraine, Lithuania and Poland, which initiated the creation of the so-called "Lublin Triangle" - an effective partnership and cooperation of these three countries, which serves as an important driver for effective cooperation with all other European Union countries, with the participation of Ukraine. By analogy, the current realities of actions developments in Central and South Asia lead to actual initiative to create such a "triangle" by Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan as a driver of peace, stability and sustainable development in the region.