On the invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, a delegation of the Secretariat of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization led by Secretary-General Nurlan Yermekbayev took part in the seventh summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA), which was held on 15 October 2026 in Baku, Republic of Azerbaijan.
The motto of the high-level meeting under Azerbaijan's chairmanship was "A stronger CICA: Connectivity, Digitalization and Sustainable Growth in Asia." The agenda included issues of the institutional development of this international forum, as well as the consideration and adoption of documents, including the Baku Declaration and the CICA Charter. Important outcomes of the summit were the admission of the Lao People's Democratic Republic to the association as a member state, the extension of Azerbaijan's chairmanship for another two years, and the approval of the candidacy of the next CICA Secretary-General, who will be Sultan Hajiyev (Azerbaijan).
Speaking at the summit, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev noted that, thanks to initiatives implemented with the support of member states, CICA has expanded opportunities for developing dialogue and cooperation in the interests of security, economic prosperity and mutual understanding in Asia. Among the priority areas, transport connectivity, digitalization, environmental protection, tourism, education and science were highlighted.
The SCO and CICA are important multilateral platforms of the Asian region that share common goals in the areas of ensuring regional security, stability and sustainable development. The Azerbaijan’s chairmanship of CICA considers strengthening synergy with the SCO and other international and regional structures as one of its priorities.
On the sidelines of the event, the SCO Secretary General held conversations with a number of heads of delegations of the participating states.
The Memorandum of Understanding between the secretariats of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia was signed on 20 May 2014 in Shanghai.