Tashkent, 11 August 2017 – The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and Head of the Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA) Petko Draganov participated at the International Conference “Central Asia – the Main Priority of Uzbekistan’s Foreign Policy”, held in Tashkent. The event was organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Information and Analytical Center for International Relations, the UNDP and the Office of the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Tashkent.

In his opening remarks, SRSG Draganov commended the positive and growing tendency in Central Asia towards regional cooperation and strengthening of good-neighborly relations with an emphasis on economic complementarity and cultural-civilizational closeness of the states. He underscored the Regional Centre’s determination to continue constructive interaction with the Central Asian governments to further support these processes in pursuit of maintaining durable peace and security, increasing the well-being of the population. The full text of SRSG Draganov's speech (in Russian) can be found here. 

On the sidelines of the conference, Mr. Draganov met with H.E. Mr. Abdulaziz Kamilov, Foreign Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan to exchange views on the current situation, potential developments in Central Asia and to discuss the status of the Centre’s initiatives in line with its mandate.