About 300 delegates, including CICA member countries, think tanks, observers, social groups and media attended the all-important forum, which discussed common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security in Asia, as well as the One Belt One Road Initiative.
Held on the themed “25 years of CICA: For Asian Security and Development the forum consist of the opening ceremony, plenary session and 8 roundtable panels focusing on the Asian security situation, the implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, anti-terrorism cooperation, cyberspace security, addressing climate change, financial security, the role of the CICA Non-governmental Forum, and the role of the media.
“We are proud of a greater success CICA has achieved so far, which has enabled us to identify development issues like agriculture, economic finance, youth development and regional security issues,” Secretary of the Conference Yuan Chen said.
There are 26 member states in CICA, including Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, the Republic of Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Russia, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Vietnam, and 14 observers (including sovereign states and international organizations) –The Republic of Belarus, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Ukraine, USA, the United Nations, the OSCE, International Organization for Migration, the League of Arab States and Parliamentary Assembly of the Turkic Speaking Countries.
CICA’s international partnership has expanded together with a broader partnership in the world; with the broader objective of reducing poverty and ensures a comprehensive and sustainable security.
The conference identified the Belt and Road Initiative as a successful project that is boosting CICA Member States. Speaker after speaker commended the initiative and suggested that other countries should emulate the good examples of China in fostering development so as to shape a brighter future.
Stressing on the expansion of cooperation among countries and establishing peace all over the world, the Secretary of the Conference Yuan Chen in the opening ceremony of the second annual forum said that achieving these goals are not merely the mission of the governments and their organizations, rather the non-governmental entities should feel responsible and play a more active role to realize them. He added that there is a need to have a wider anti-terrorism frontline in order to restore peace and security in Asian Countries.
This conference will be hosted by the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs, organized by the People’s Government of Beijing Municipality, co-organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and supported by the China Public Diplomacy Association.
The establishment of the CICA Non-governmental Forum was an important initiative proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the CICA Shanghai Summit in May 2014. The First Conference of this forum was successfully held in Beijing in May 2015.
