BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 20. The 8th plenary session of the Business Council of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) was held in Baku, Trend reports.
The plenary meeting is being organized by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (KOBIA) and the CICA.
The event is attended by CICA Secretary General Kairat Sarybay, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the KOBIA under the Ministry of Economy Orkhan Mammadov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Kazakhstan International Chamber of Commerce Murat Karimsakov, Head of the Project Group for International Cooperation of Russia Pavel Kondrashov (Russian Small and Medium-sized Business Corporation OJSC), Counsellor, Deputy Head of Mission of the Royal Thai Embassy in Astana Orathai Phubunlap Gunaseelan, Director of the CICA Business Council Office in China Sheng Guofey, Ambassador of Kyrgyzstan to Azerbaijan Maksat Mamitkanov, Chief of Staff of the Minister of National Economy of Palestine Nahid Salameh Ibrahim Qudsu, and Executive Director of the Investment Promotion Agency under the Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade of Uzbekistan Mansurjon Razulev.
CICA has 28 member countries. During Azerbaijan's chairmanship, the Business Council under the CICA will be headed by KOBIA.
Addressing the event, Secretary General of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) Kairat Sarybay stated that Azerbaijan attaches special importance to women entrepreneurs, focusing on the area of inclusive economic development.
“I am very happy that a large delegation of women entrepreneurs from my region, Kazakhstan, is here,” he said.
"The Chairmanship's initiative to establish the CICA Women's Council is a concrete step towards institutionalizing broad cooperation and dialogue in this area among member states, including by ensuring significant participation of women in decision-making processes. I can say that Member States have shown great interest in expanding the activities of this new consultative body.
I encourage CICA member States to pay special attention to young entrepreneurship. In this regard, the partnership network of leading universities can be used to unlock the potential of young scientists and researchers. “It is crucial that our young people are equipped with the necessary knowledge, skills, and support systems so that they can make a significant contribution to the sustainable development of Asia,” added the Secretary General.
Chairman of the Board of the International Chamber of Commerce of Kazakhstan, Murat Karimsakov, noted that the location of Kazakhstan at the intersection of Europe and Asia creates opportunities not only for transit, but also to create a regional industrial center.
He noted that Kazakhstan's business community actively cooperates with businesses from several countries in energy, industry, agriculture, logistics, medicine, education, IT, tourism, and other areas of the economy:
"Our trade relations are steadily growing with increasing exports and imports and the development of joint ventures.
We have a high-tech potential that allows us to offer a full range of opportunities to bring industrial operational products to global markets. In this context, I would like to note that Kazakhstan's industrial production index in 2024 reached a level of about 106 percent. However, in the first three months of 2025, there is a sustained positive trend in production, with growth reaching 8.7 percent. This reflects the country's potential to deepen industrial cooperation and expand its participation in the global value chain.
The main growth gas pedals in the first quarter of 2025 were engineering, food processing, fabricated metal products and mining."
