DUSHANBE, June 1, 2011, Asia-Plus -- The third annual Meeting of Deputy Foreign Ministers of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, organized by the United Nations Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA), took place in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan on 31 May 2011.

According to UNRCCA, during the meeting, issues of enhancing regional cooperation and facilitating close interaction between the UNRCCA and Central Asian states with a view to consolidating joint efforts to prevent and eliminate threats to stability and sustainable development in the region were discussed.

Central Asian foreign ministry representatives were provided with an outline of the UNRCCA activities in 2010 and identified priorities for the Center’s activities for the current year.  There was a constructive exchange of views on the situation in the region from the security perspective and the new Program of Action of the UNRCCA, which will form the basis for its initiatives in the next three-year cycle (2012-2014).

During the discussion, the participants touched upon issues such as the fight against trans-boundary crime, extremism, drug-trafficking, developments in Afghanistan, the situation in Kyrgyzstan, as well as the management of common natural resources and environmental security.

The participants recognized the importance of enhancing regional cooperation through dialogue, principles of preventive diplomacy and continued cooperation with the United Nations and regional organizations.

Support was expressed to the efforts of the Regional Centre to create conditions conducive to achieving sustainable and mutually beneficial solutions of regional problems based on international law.

We will recall that Deputy Foreign Minister, Nizomiddin Zohidov, represented Tajikistan at the meeting in Ashgabat.