On 18 October 2016, Interim President Shavkat Mirziyoyev held negotiations with the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kuwait Sabah Al Khalid Al Sabah and the President of the IDB Bandar Al-Hajjar

Interim President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev held negotiations with the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kuwait Sabah Al Khalid Al Sabah on 18 October 2016.

Welcoming the guest, Shavkat Mirziyoyev expressed deep respect for the Emir of Kuwait Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. Sabah Al Khalid Al Sabah conveyed the greetings and good wishes of the Emir of Kuwait.

The sides underlined that this meeting serves for further strengthening of bilateral friendly relations.

Approaches and views of Uzbekistan and Kuwait on a row of regional and international issues are mostly similar. The parties share common positions on topical issues of strengthening peace and stability, preventing threats and challenges.

Uzbekistan has been widening the scale of interactions with Kuwait within the framework of different authoritarian fora and institutions.

It was particularly underscored during the conversation that the visits of President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov in 2004 to Kuwait, of the Emir of the State of Kuwait sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah in 2008 to Uzbekistan have given a new impetus to developing relations between the countries, lifted the mutually beneficial cooperation to a new level. The documents, signed during these visits, have become the legal base of interactions between our countries.

The parties exchanged opinion on elevating relations between Uzbekistan and Kuwait to a higher level. The officials agreed to hold a session of the joint inter-governmental commission on cooperation in the first quarter of 2017 to expand trade-economic and investment partnership.

It was said that Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development actively participates in programmes of social-economic development of Uzbekistan. The fund participated in realization of three projects for 60.6 million US dollars in such spheres as water supply, transport infrastructure and medicine. Currently, four more projects for 72.5 million US dollars are implemented in cardio surgery, irrigation and road reconstruction.

Shavkat Mirziyayev and Sabah Al Khalid Al Sabah underlined importance of organization of mutual visits at various levels to develop relations between two nations. In this regard, the upcoming visit of the Uzbek Foreign Minister to Kuwait will become important step in realization of agreements.

Using the opportunity, Shavkat Mirziyayev invited the Emir of Kuwait to visit Uzbekistan.

In the framework of the 43rd session of the Council of Foreign Affairs of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Uzbekistan assumed presidency in this institution from Kuwait. In this regard, the Kuwaiti side highly rated proposals and initiatives of Uzbekistan for the presidency period in the organization and fully supported and expressed readiness to cooperation in this direction.

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On the same day Interim President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev held a meeting with the President of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Bandar Al-Hajjar.

At the meeting, Shavkat Mirziyoyev congratulated the guest with his election to the post of the IDB President and expressed hope that the bank will continue to contribute to strengthening of the unity of the Islamic world and development of all the member countries of the OIC.

It was noted that the IDB has allocated over US$1.4 billion to realization of 26 projects in Uzbekistan in such spheres as healthcare, education, irrigation and land-reclamation, power, water supply, utility, road infrastructure, support of small businesses.

The sides noted that there is huge potential for development of cooperation and lifting them to new level. The sides reached agreement to exchange delegations of various levels to study and use untapped opportunities, create new project and expand scale of partnership.

It was said that Uzbekistan is for development of strategic cooperation with IDB. The Uzbek side expressed readiness to develop and adopt cooperation strategy for 2017-2017 within this year. Currently, some 21 projects with total cost of US$1.4 billion were prepared for inclusion to this programme.

IDB President expressed gratitude to Shavkat Mirziyoyev for invitation to Tashkent forum of the OIC and high evaluation to the IDB activities.

He said that he supports all proposals of Uzbekistan to develop mutual relations and expressed his readiness to implement agreements to real projects.

The sides exchanged opinion on realization of the initiative of the Uzbek leadership on creation of International Scientific-Research center on studying rich religious-spiritual heritage of the Uzbek ancestors, who contributed to development of Islam culture, in Samarkand. The principle “Enlightenment against ignorance”, underlying this initiative, envisages learning the Islam not through damaging false ideas, but via learning the heritage of such geniuses as Imam Bukhari, Imam Termezi, Makhmud Zamakhsahiy, Bakhauddin Naqshband, Burkhaniddin Marginani, Imam Maturidi, Abu Raykhan Beruniy, Abu Ali ibn Sino and wide dissemination of this religious, cultural and scientific legacy of the whole humanity.

Bandar Al-Hajjar highly rated this initiative and said that such ideas serve to further strengthening of the unity of Muslim world and achieving common goals.

At the meeting, the sides also discussed issues of further development of mutual beneficial cooperation between Uzbekistan and IDB.

(Source: Press-service of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan)

Meetings in the framework of 43rd Session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers

On October 18, 2016 the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan Abdulaziz Kamilov met with the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Nasser Judah, who arrived in Tashkent to attend the 43rd session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

The sides discussed the state and prospects of Uzbek-Jordanian relations in bilateral and multilateral formats, including in the framework of the OIC, the UN.

The parties confirmed their readiness to achieving concrete results of cooperation in political, trade-economic, cultural-humanitarian and other spheres of mutual interest.

The Ambassador of Jordan Saleh Ahmad Al-Jawarneh participated at the meeting.

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On October 18, 2016 the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan Abdulaziz Kamilov met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey Mevlut Cavusoglu, who arrived in Tashkent to participate at the 43rd session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which is opening on October 18.

In the conversation, the ministers discussed the current state of Uzbek-Turkish relations and prospects for their sustained development and exchanged views on the issues included in the agenda of the 43rd Session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers.

The sides also considered international and regional problems as well as other topics of mutual interest.

The Ambassador of Turkey Namik Guner Erpul attended the meeting.

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On October 18, 2016 the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan Abdulaziz Kamilov met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia Retno Marsudi, who arrived in Tashkent to attend the 43rd session of the Council of Foreign Ministers Affairs of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

The sides discussed the current state and prospects of bilateral relations in political, trade-economic, cultural-humanitarian and other spheres, as well as cooperation within the OIC and other international organizations.

The parties exchanged views on other issues of mutual interest.

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On October 18, 2016 the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan Abdulaziz Kamilov met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Palestine Riyad Al-Malki, headed the Palestinian delegation to the 43rd Session of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Tashkent.

During the meeting the sides discussed topical issues of Uzbek-Palestinian cooperation, including within the OIC.

The Ambassador of Palestine Mohammed Tarshahani attended the meeting.

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On October 18, 2016 the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan Abdulaziz Kamilov met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire Abdallah Albert Mabri, who arrived in Tashkent to participate in the 43rd session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

During the meeting, the Foreign Ministers discussed issues of Uzbek-Ivorian cooperation within the UN, OIC, and exchanged views on the prospects of development of bilateral relations.

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On October 19, 2016 the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan Abdulaziz Kamilov met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic Erlan Abdyldaev, headed the Kyrgyz delegation at the 43rd session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Tashkent.

During the meeting the sides discussed topical issues of the Uzbek-Kyrgyz cooperation in bilateral and multilateral formats.

The sides expressed mutual interest in intensifying bilateral contacts at various levels and their practical effectiveness.

Following the meeting the Programme of Cooperation between the Foreign Ministries for 2016-2017 was signed.

The Ambassador of Kyrgyzstan Daniyar Sydykov attended the meeting.

(Source: Press Service of the MFA of the Republic of Uzbekistan)

Speech by the Chairman of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan Abdulaziz Kamilov at the Briefing for Mass Media

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem,

Dear representatives of mass media!

The 43rd Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which has just ended, saw the participation of the heads and high-profile delegations of the foreign policy institutions of OIC Member States and Observers, the distinguished Secretary General Mr. Iyad Amin Madani, the heads and representatives of various structures and commissions of our Organization, as well as the guests invited from various regional and international organizations.

I want to inform with pleasure that this time as well the Member States have demonstrated the solid unity, similarity and concurrence of views and positions on the most urgent issues of international agenda, the political will to find compromise, and thus, to assist the effective resolution of available problems and consolidation of authority of our Organization in the world.

On the outcomes of our work the Tashkent Declaration was adopted, which underscores a worthy place of the OIC among the authoritative and influential international organizations, as well as calls on to stir up the efforts in terms of bettering the activity of the Organization to ensure the unity of the Muslim Ummah, to establish a solid peace and security, to render assistance to sustainable social and economic development in the Member States.

The CFM has once again confirmed the full support for Palestine and Al-Quds Ash-Shareef, the lawful and inviolable rights of the Palestinian people, the peaceful initiatives on Middle East settlement, as well as fair and concurred resolution of the problem of Palestinian refugees in accordance with relevant resolutions of United Nations Security Council and norms of international law.

The OIC Member States stand united in their view on the need for the soonest stabilization of the situation in the Middle East and North Africa by way of political settlement of crises in line with the principles of the United Nations Charter and universally recognized international norms.

Drawing again the attention of the international community towards the situation in Afghanistan, this time as well we have stated that there is no military solution of the Afghan problem. We have voiced support to settlement of the intra-Afghan problem through advancement of an inclusive process of national reconciliation proceeding from the fact that these efforts must be taken under the leadership of Afghans and by the Afghans themselves.

The Member States of the Organization have emphasized the priority of countering terrorism and extremism in all of their manifestations, illicit production and trafficking of drugs, illegal arms trade, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and means of its delivery. It was noted that it is possible to defeat and eliminate these dangerous phenomena only by way of stirring up the joint struggle and elaborating the retaliation measures both against the symptoms and roots of these problems.

All participants of the Session supported the necessity of disseminating the knowledge about enlightened Islam as an important instrument of the struggle against the ideology of terrorism, violent extremism and religious fanaticism.

Taking into account that Uzbekistan’s chairmanship in the OIC CFM is held under a slogan «The education and enlightenment – path to peace and creativity», a special attention was paid to such issues as an in-depth contemplation of historical scientific heritage of outstanding scholars and thinkers of the Islamic world, ensuring growth of investments and input into a human capital, development and betterment of the system of education, upbringing of the forthcoming generation in the spirit of strife to master the universal human and Islamic values and summits of modern science.

The OIC stands ready to further continue and expand the programs and events in the sphere of higher education, in particular, in the framework of the Educational exchange program, to stir up the connections among higher education institutions, to advance the joint science and research projects, to institute scholarships and professional training programs.

In this context, the adoption of the new «Ten-year action program: the OIC – Year 2025» was highly appreciated. Its implementation will serve for further development of trade and investments, transfer of high technologies, advancement of private sector, industrialization, scientific spheres and education in the Muslim countries in the 21st century.

A particular attention was paid to such issues as exchange of experience in terms of addressing the issues of slowdown in growth of an economy, introduction of innovative technologies, shaping favorable investment and business climate, implementation of the long-term mutually beneficial projects in the priority directions of cooperation and development of infrastructure.

The participants of the Session have unanimously supported the efforts of the OIC Member States in terms of implementation of the national programs for using the renewable sources of energy and establishing the innovative economy.

As for the sphere of healthcare the Council has underscored its key significance in ensuring the high living standards and as a whole prosperity of society, and called for effective and full implementation of the «OIC strategic action plan in the sphere of healthcare for 2014-2023».

The participants of the Session have voiced a full support for the efforts of the Secretary General in terms of further deepening the cooperation and interaction of the OIC with regional and international organizations, especially the United Nations and its institutions.

Uzbekistan welcomes all these priorities of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and over the course of its chairmanship in the Organization’s CFM intends to channel efforts for implementation of the set goals in practice.

A special meeting «Extending opportunities and promoting the creative potential of the youth» was also held in the framework of the Session. The meeting saw a detailed and productive exchange of views on the issues of youth policy of the Member States and prospects of interaction in this area.

Taking this opportunity, as a chair of the OIC CFM I would like to thank His Excellency Secretary General Mr. Iyad Amin Madani for his role in advancement of the interests of the Muslim Ummah and uniting the efforts and aspirations of the OIC Member States in achieving the set goals in political, socio-economic and humanitarian spheres.

On the outcomes of our two-day work the participants of the Session approved 118 resolutions. You can learn their texts later on the OIC website and on the page of Uzbekistan’s chairmanship in the CFM on the website of the Uzbekistan Foreign Ministry.

The OIC Council of Foreign Ministers has received with pleasure the proposal of Côte d'Ivoire and adopted a decision to hold the 44th Session of the OIC CFM in 2017 in the city of Yamoussoukro.

In conclusion, dear representatives of mass media, allow me to thank you for your participation in this meeting.

Thank you for your attention and I offer the floor with pleasure to Mr. Secretary General.

(Source: Press Service of the MFA of the Republic of Uzbekistan)