Distinguished heads of states and governments!
Dear friends!
I am very pleased to see you in the great city of Samarkand, one of the centers of world civilization, located at the crossroads of the Great Silk Road.
I would like to express my special gratitude to all of you for participating at the Summit of the newly named Organization of Turkic States.
Welcome to the land of Uzbekistan, dear friends!
Dear summit participants!
First of all, I would like to express my sincere grati-tude to you for supporting the initiative to declare the city of Samarkand, which is a symbol of friendship and peace, a center of science and education for the people of the world, as the «Capital of Turkic Civilization».
It is well-known that the ancient Turkic land has been connecting the East and the West for thousands of years, bringing the world civilizations closer to each other and enriching various cultures.
We are rightfully proud that the bright pages of the great past of the Turkic world were created together by our great ancestors.
It is the most important task for all of us to preserve such an invaluable heritage, study it deeply and pass it on to future generations.
Another importance of our today’s summit is that for the first time in our multi-thousand-year history our Turkic family is gathering in such a full format, as a part of our renewed organization.
Undoubtedly, under the motto «A new era of turkic civilization: towards common progress and prosper-ity» we are entering a completely new stage of joint growth.
Distinguished heads of delegations!
Today, all of us are all going through the difficult trials related to acute geopolitical contradictions, the global economic crisis and the negative consequences of climate change.
Therefore, in the current dangerous situation, it is essential for our countries to identify the common approaches and coordinate efforts to address the most pressing problems.
We are able to overcome any difficulties through friendship, cooperation and mutual support.
I would like to emphasize that during Türkiye’s chairmanship at our Organization last year, much work was accomplished on various directions and our mutual cooperation has become more active.
During Uzbekistan’s chairmanship, we also intend:
to effectively implement the «Turkic world vision – 2040» concept and the «Five-year strategy of the organization of turkic states» that is being adopted today, to further strengthen the authority of our Organization, which includes a vast region with more than 170 million people, and most importantly, to bring to a higher level the cooperation between our brotherly peoples and countries with a common history, language and culture.
Dear colleagues!
While getting prepared to the Summit, we have thoroughly analyzed the activities of our Organiza-tion.
It should be recognized that significant work has been accomplished to develop the multilateral rela-tions between our countries.
Meanwhile, it is also very true that our great potential and vast opportunities are not being fully exploited.
I. First of all, it is necessary to strengthen the trade and economic pillar of our cooperation.
The mutual trade between our countries constitutes only 4% of total foreign trade. And the rest of it corresponds to the share of third countries. Certainly, none of us are satisfied with this situation.
In addition, some import customs tariffs between our countries remain high.
In order to fundamentally change the situation in this strategic direction, to ensure free movement of trade, investment and services, we put forward the initiative on establishment of a «space of new economic opportunities» within our Organization.
To implement this plan, I propose to hold an annual International Turkic Economic Forum involving the member and observer states of our Organization as well as leading world business representatives.
Holding the joint G2B events, business meetings and «round tables», presentations of innovative projects and exhibitions in the framework of the Forum shall yield the great practical results.
As an outcome of these events it will be important to adopt the annual «Road Maps» focused on the implementation of joint programs and projects.
Our work shall be focused primarily on boosting the mutual trade and joint entry into third-country mar-kets, creating continuous value chains, high-tech clusters and venture companies.
We also fully support the establishment of a joint investment fund.
II. Another urgent issue of strategic importance on the agenda is the strengthening the transport connec-tivity.
For instance, we are speaking a lot about the tran-scaspian international corridor, but we have to ac-complish a lot to achieve tangible results.
For example: Uzbekistan transports only 10% of its foreign trade goods through this transport corridor. In order to fully utilize our transport and transit potential, we need to find answers to the following questions:
– What should we do in this direction?
– What additional measures should be taken? And when and by whom should they be taken?
In this regard, based on the Program adopted today, we suggest that our transport ministers develop a clear plan and effective mechanisms for joint coop-eration by the end of the year.
We should focus on:
– increasing the competitiveness of transit corridors in our region;
– introducing the most favorable tariffs for business;
– creating a modern transport infrastructure.
In this regard, we call on the states of our Organiza-tion to join the system of electronic transport permits exchange recently introduced between Türkiye and Uzbekistan.
III. The First Turkic Agricultural Forum held this year in Tashkent has clearly shown that we have a great potential in ensuring food security.
We have a potential to supply with the agricultural and food products not only our countries, but also the foreign markets.
Along with, we should strengthen our practical steps in this direction and deepen our cooperation based on specific projects.
In particular, I propose the following:
First, it is a high time to adopt a multilateral agree-ment within our Organization to create an effective system of food supply based on the needs of global and domestic markets and production capacities of our countries.
Second, it is important to establish a comprehensive partnership between the Organization of Turkic States and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to accelerate innovation, modern knowledge and advanced technology in the industry.
Third, based on the positive experience to hold the Turkic Agricultural Forum on the regular basis and organize an international SMART agricultural exhi-bition at its second conference.
Dear summit participants!
IV. As it was proposed by Uzbekistan, the year 2022 was declared «Year of Support for Youth Initiatives» within the Organization of Turkic States.
As a part of this, the city of Bukhara received the status of the youth capital of the Turkic world.
We intend to consistently continue the good work we have started to encourage the young generation, to realize their talents and abilities.
I propose to hold next year the International congress of science and innovation of youth of the turkic world in our country.
Within its framework we plan to organize the exten-siv meetings of ministers of innovation and educa-tion, rectors of universities and young leaders, tal-ented youth, elders of our Organization. In order to render a systematic tone to our work and ensure effectiveness, it would be appropriate to introduce the position of the Deputy Secretary-General of the Organization for the Youth Affairs.
