In the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding signed among Official Foreign Policy Research Centers of the Member States of the Turkic Council on 8 May 2015 in Baku, the Third Meeting of Official Foreign Policy Research Centers was held on 25 May 2016 in Astana hosted by Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The meeting has started by the opening addresses of Erlan Karin, Director of Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan and Dr. Omer Kocaman, Deputy Secretary General of the Turkic Council, Ali Resul Usul, Chairman of the Center for Strategic Research of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, Farhad Mammadov, Director of the Center for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Azamat Dikambayev, Director of the National Institute for Strategic Studies of the Kyrgyz Republic.
The meeting lasted with the Session on Economic cooperation among the member states of the Turkic Council: new opportunities in transport-transit sphere and Workshop on Enhancing cooperation among the official foreign policy research centers of the Turkic Council: projects, reports and recommendations.
The Session and Workshop were attended by Dauren Sabitov, Director of Transit and Transport Logistics Development Department, Ministry of Investments and Development of Republic of Kazakhstan, Marat Saduov, National Secretary in the Republic of Kazakhstan, Intergovernmental Commission TRACECA, Ali Resul Usul, Chairman of the Center for Strategic Research of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, Farhad Mammadov, Director of the Center for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Azamat Dikambayev, Director of the National Institute for Strategic Studies of the Kyrgyz Republic and James G. McGann, Director of Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program, Senior Lecturer, Lauder Institute, Wharton Business School at University of Pennsylvania. Shandor Dorogi, First Secretary of the Embassy of the Republic of Hungary in the Republic of Kazakhstan attended the event as a special guest.
At the meeting cooperation in transport-transit sphere among the Member States of the Turkic Council, the projects implemented by the Member States, the obstacles faced by the states, the ways how to eliminate these problems were debated and recommendations how to enhance cooperation among the research centers were discussed.
