ECO Deputy Secretary General Ambassador Huseyin Avni Bicakli visited Samarkand, Uzbekistan in connection with attending the 21st Session of the Committee for Review of the Implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (CRIC-21) held on September 13 – 17, 2023. On the event’s sidelines, he met with the Uzbekistan’s Minister of Ecology H.E. Mr. Aziz Abdukhakimov.
The interaction was aimed at discussing the prospects of regional cooperation in ecology through enhanced research collaboration amongst the scientific community of the ECO Member States. The two sides also explored ways and means to ensure joint implementation of the principles and policies as well as strategies on sustainable energy and environment in Central Asia by developing partnership between the Central Asian University for Environmental and Climate Change Studies (Green University) and the Clean Energy Center in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Appreciating Uzbekistan’s growing role in the ECO especially the successfully organized 16th Summit in Tashkent on November 9, 2023, the Meeting further brought under discussion various economic and environmental activities of the Organization notably the establishment of ECO High-Level Platform on Environmental Cooperation under the initiative of Uzbekistan. The importance of Uzbekistan’s proposal to organize the first High-Level ECO Platform Conference on Ecology within the framework of the Samarkand Climate Forum in 2024 was also underscored during the meeting.
