Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) – On 14 April, Tashkent hosted a regional conference on the topic “Public diplomacy is an important factor in strengthening peace, friendship and good neighborliness in Central Asia”, organized by the SCO Public Diplomacy Center in Uzbekistan in partnership with the representative office of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in our country and the International Institute of Central Asia.

The event was attended by deputies of the Parliament of Uzbekistan, leading experts from analytical and research centers, representatives of the diplomatic corps, academic circles, national cultural centers, public, youth and volunteer organizations of Central Asian countries.

The representative composition of the participants of the event made it possible to discuss in detail the prospects for cooperation in the field of public diplomacy and its impact on the stable and sustainable development of Central Asia.

In particular, Murad Uzakov, head of the ISMI department, speaking at the conference, noted that today the countries of the region pay special attention to the development of intercultural dialogue in Central Asia, which is the basis for strengthening good neighborliness and cooperation, peace and tranquility in the region.

At the same time, recently, thanks to the political will and joint efforts of the leaders of the countries of the region, the trend towards further rapprochement of the peoples of Central Asia and the development of cultural and humanitarian relations is becoming sustainable and irreversible.

In this context, the expert stressed that today the frequency of holding various joint cultural and humanitarian events and meetings in the countries of Central Asia has increased. These are days of culture, literature, art and cinema, days of creative intelligentsia, "Evenings of Friendship", various forums and festivals that contribute to the rapprochement of peoples, strengthening interfaith harmony in the region.

Moreover, all countries also show a high interest in jointly building up cooperation in education, healthcare, tourism, and youth policy. In this direction, regional forums and conferences are regularly held, and programs for the development of long-term cooperation are being developed and implemented.

According to Murad Uzakov, all this serves as a foundation for further consolidation of Central Asia and allows strengthening regional cooperation. In this vein, he noted that today acute intra-regional problems of security, state borders and water use are being addressed on a systematic basis. Trade and economic, industrial and cooperation, transport and logistics, energy, environmental, interregional, cultural and humanitarian ties are developing, which contributes to the growth of political, diplomatic and economic attractiveness, as well as strengthening the subjectivity of Central Asia.

The expert also voiced the importance of further development of political dialogue and intensification of contacts at all levels, constructive resolution of state border issues, disclosure of regional trade, economic, transport and energy potential, building up cultural and humanitarian ties, consolidation and coordination of efforts in building regional relations with external partners.

Speakers during the event, supporting the interaction of the countries of the region in the development of public diplomacy and in the above areas, also focused on the importance of the role of civil society, including public, youth and volunteer organizations, in shaping a sustainable, stable and peaceful future of Central Asia.

At the end of the conference, the experts highly appreciated the dialogue that took place, which confirmed the commitment of the countries of Central Asia to the further joint development of mutually beneficial cooperation. Readiness was expressed to hold such discussions on a regular basis to search for and develop new areas of cooperation.