SPECA days to be held in Baku next week

The days of the United Nations Special Program for the Economies of Central Asia (SPECA) will be held in Baku from November 20 to 24, Report informs.

The event will be held within Azerbaijan’s chairmanship in the Program.

As part of the SPECA Days, an economic forum “Transforming the SPECA Region into a Connectivity Hub with Global Outreach” will be held in Baku on November 21-22.

The forum is dedicated to increasing the role of transport links in the face of new challenges in the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR) between Europe and China. It highlights the potential contribution of digital transformation of data and document exchange along this trade and transport route to projects to transition the region’s economies to greener and more inclusive ones.

The Forum is planned to be held as an expert-level meeting, which will provide an opportunity for information and exchange of views through panel discussions, formulation of new ideas and initiatives on issues related to trade, digitalization, energy and transit in the SPECA region. As a result of the Forum, participants will help prepare a set of conclusions and expert-level recommendations on how to transform the SPECA region into a well-connected and sustainable trade and transport hub with global outreach, while achieving relevant SDGs. At the final session of the Forum, representatives of academic and research institutions will discuss the strategic vision of SPECA, taking into account the long-term perspective of the development of international cooperation to consolidate economic cooperation and integration for the next 25 years.

The SPECA was established on March 26, 1998 by the Tashkent Declaration, signed by the presidents of the Central Asian countries and the executive secretaries of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) as a special UN program to assist these countries in economic development, cooperation and integration into the economies of Europe and Asia.

The participating states of SPECA are Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.