Ambassador Alexandre Keltchewsky, the Head of the OSCE Centre in Astana, said participants for the seminar had been selected for their understanding of the challenges that Central Asia - and Central Asians - face every day.

"We also looked for young leaders who we believed could advance the region’s development in a spirit of mutual trust and confidence," he added.

The three-day seminar focuses on security challenges, including terrorism and extremism, the situation in Afghanistan, water management, labour migration, corruption, human rights, gender equality, rule of law and freedom of the media. Ten academic advisers from a variety of countries and with different areas of expertise will work closely with the students to share their academic interests and help them identify topics for research papers.

Pal Dunay, an academic adviser at the seminar, said: "This seminar is important because it fosters young Central Asian professionals’ exchanges and helps them compare and, if necessary, contrast their views on Central Asian politics. It also prepares them for careers in political and economic affairs and provides networking opportunities."

After the seminar, the students will write research papers with mentoring provided by the academic advisers. The students will present their papers at a second, follow-up seminar, scheduled for September.

This year’s Central Asian Youth network seminar was organized by the OSCE Centre in Astana with the support of the other OSCE field offices in the region. The seminar is the latest in a series of regional student events that were previously held in Charvak, Uzbekistan in 2004, Lake Issyk Kul, Kyrgyzstan in 2005, and in Almaty, Kazakstan in 2009.