The 43rd Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation has begun its work today in Tashkent. The meeting has brought together foreign ministers of 26 member countries.
The session is also attended by Secretary General of the OIC Iyad Amin Madani, President of the Islamic Development Bank Bandar Hazhzhar, director generals of a number of subsidiary and specialized agencies, the special envoys of US, France, Italy, UK, Switzerland under the OIC, as well as representatives of the UN, OSCE, the League of Arab States, the Organization for economic cooperation, the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building measures in Asia (CICA), and many other structures.
At the opening ceremony, Interim President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev addressed the participants with a welcoming speech.
The head of state stressed a number of priority areas scheduled during the presidency of our country. Among them: the scientific and technological cooperation, improvement of cooperation mechanisms and expansion of mutually beneficial trade and investment relations, the search for peaceful, political-diplomatic, preventive methods of conflict resolution. In addition, for the study and promotion of the achievements of our great ancestors - the thinkers of the Islamic world, Shavkat Mirziyoyev also put forward the initiative to establish an international research center in Samarkand.
In the course of the Forum it is planned to approve more than a hundred resolutions, in particular, the Tashkent Declaration, which will reflect political, economic, cultural and humanitarian issues on the agenda of the OIC, as well as the priorities of the forthcoming presidency of Uzbekistan in the organization.
From now on, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan will carry out the functions of the Chairperson of the CFM/OIC until the next session in 2017 Chairmanship of Uzbekistan will be held under the slogan "Education - the path to peace and creation."
OIC was established in September 1969 and currently includes 57 countries.
Uzbekistan is a member of the OIC since 1996. In April of this year, Uzbekistan has signed and ratified the Charter of the OIC.
In May 2015 at the Ministerial Council meeting of Member States of the OIC in Kuwait, it was decided to hold the next meeting of foreign ministers in Tashkent and with Uzbekistan's chairmanship in this key institution of the organization.
