On October 14, 2016 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan hosted a briefing on the upcoming 43rd Ministerial Council session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to be conducted on October 18-19 in Tashkent for representatives of national and foreign media. It is reported by the press service of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of our country.
Addressing reporters Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan Gayrat Fazilov noted that the foreign ministers of 26 member countries have officially confirmed their participation in the meeting. They are the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Guyana, Yemen, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Cameroon, Qatar, Ivory Coast, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Maldives, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Suriname, Tajikistan, Turkey and other countries.
The session will be attended by Secretary General of the OIC Iyad Amin Madani, President of the Islamic Development Bank Bandar Hajjar, CEO of a number of subsidiary and specialized agencies, special envoys of the US, France, Italy, UK, Switzerland, at the OIC, as well as representatives of the UN, OSCE, League of Arab States, the Organization for Economic Cooperation, Conference on Interaction on Confidence Building Measures in ASIA, and many other structures.
In the framework of the session which will begin its work on October 18, the current chairman of the Ministerial Council of the State of Kuwait will officially hand over the presidency to Uzbekistan. Since then, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan will carry out the functions of the Chairman of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers until the next session of this structure in 2017.
According to the approved program and agenda it is expected the address of the Acting President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoev at the opening ceremony.
Uzbekistan considers the Organization of Islamic Cooperation as a recognized forum, uniting Muslim countries, and its forthcoming presidency of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the OIC as recognition of great historical contribution, made by our country in the development of Islamic civilization. Based on this, Uzbekistan intends to fully promote the expansion of the organization’s role in the world, as well as solving the important tasks before the organization.
Thus, in accordance with the priorities of the organization, taking into account the increasing importance for strengthening stability and security in our countries on combating the destructive ideology, the formation of proper understanding and interpretation of the sacred religion of Islamic values among the population, especially the younger generation, upbringing comprehensively developed youth with advanced knowledge, the presidency of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers will be conducted under the motto “Education and enlightenment – the path to peace and creation”.
Attendees in the plenary sessions will discuss issues of maintaining the intergovernmental dialogue, solving the common tasks of the OIC in the field of peace, as well as deepening cooperation in political, economic, scientific, educational, cultural and other fields.
In the framework of the preparation for the 43rd Session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers, 39th Session of the Islamic Commission for Economic, Cultural and Social Affairs and Senior Officials Meeting of member countries of the OIC have been conducted in August of this year in Jeddah in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The delegation of Uzbekistan, headed by Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov, has participated in these forums.
According to the results, it has been agreed more than 100 resolutions to be approved at a meeting of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers in Tashkent. In addition, in the event, the Special Committee of the OIC will further discuss a number of draft resolutions.
The main outcome document of the 43rd session should be the Tashkent Declaration which will reflect the major political, economic, cultural and humanitarian issues standing on the agenda of the OIC, as well as the priorities of the forthcoming Presidency of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the Ministerial Council of this organization.
