Iran Ready to Engage in CICA Development Projects

EghtesadOnline: Iranian traders, industrial companies and exporters of engineering and technical services are ready to cooperate in the development projects of the member states of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA), President Hassan Rouhani said.

News ID: ۷۴۷۵۷۳

16 June 2019

He made the statement while addressing the fifth conference of the forum held in the Tajik capital Dushanbe on Saturday.

CICA is an inter-governmental forum for enhancing cooperation to promote peace, security and stability in Asia. It has 29 member states, including Iran, as well as seven observer countries. The forum is currently chaired by Tajikistan, according to Financial Tribune.

Rouhani said Iran welcomes CICA countries' presence in the Iranian market, his website reported.

"As a country at the crossroads of North-South and East-West corridors with strong industrial and technological infrastructure, educated workforce and huge opportunities in energy, mining, tourism and transit sectors, we welcome the activity of businesspersons and companies of member states in Iran," he said.

CICA members, according to Rouhani, could also work together for devising an active region-oriented policy by creating common markets for trade, energy and tourism, or upgrading the road and rail networks, to help foster economic growth and promote the well-being and quality of life of Asian nations.

Solid Foundation

The Iranian president also highlighted the member states' ancient civilization, noting that it provides the instruments to tackle the challenges facing the region.

"The capital that we inherited is enough to create a world free of discrimination, terrorism, monopolism, bullying and injustice," he said, adding that the CICA assembly can certainly inspire and influence not only Asia, but also the entire world by taking advantage of this ancient heritage.

Rouhani reiterated Iran's willingness, as a key player in the region, to set up bilateral and multilateral political and security mechanisms and to interact with CICA member states to face the challenges and cope with existing threats.

He also referred to the United States' current policies as the main cause of instability in the region.

Washington's approach to Iran's 2015 nuclear deal, for instance, has turned West Asia into "the most unstable and crisis-hit" region in the world, he added.

US President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal last year and reinstated sanctions on Tehran. He has placed a ban on any trade with Iran, including the import of its oil, poisoning international relations, especially among Asian states.

"We are all aware of the role of the current US government’s policies in destabilizing the countries of the region," Rouhani said, citing its policies toward Palestine, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and Yemen.

He called on all CICA members to join forces against unilateralism by promoting inter-regional cooperation.

"One country alone cannot tackle the challenges and use the opportunities single-handedly, and an acceptable level of peace, stability and development requires regional cooperation and dialogue aimed at strengthening understanding," he said.

Rouhani stressed that Iran's foreign policy focuses on finding ways to ensure common interests and mutual benefit or a "win-win policy" and it, therefore, finds such platforms as the CICA "useful, necessary and effective".