Central Asia Forum 2024: Prioritising Connectivity and Economic Engagement

The Central Asia Forum 2024 organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka, together with the Geopolitical Cartographer held at the Granbell Hotel in Colombo on August 21, exploration of the potential for future cooperation between Sri Lanka and Central Asia was underway, a region with increasing geopolitical and geo-economic significance. Sri Lanka’s engagements with countries in the Central Asian region has achieved considerable progress in recent times with the conclusion of foreign office consultations with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan and the decision to establish reciprocal resident diplomatic Missions in Astana, Kazakhstan and Colombo. 
The Forum explored emerging opportunities for Sri Lanka in the Central Asia region with a specific focus on economic diplomacy. The outcomes of the discussion are expected to enrich future engagements with the region. The importance of developing better connectivity between Sri Lanka and Central Asia, expanding and diversifying trade, tapping on synergies in areas such as the environment, tourism and sports, and building on the people-to-people contacts that have already started, were identified as elements for strengthened cooperation between Sri Lanka and the Central Asian region. The potential to expand economic and trade ties with Central Asian countries in several areas ranging from textiles, energy, tourism, agriculture, IT sector, education, food and beverages, tea, gems and jewellery, transport and logistics and Ayurveda and wellness products was discussed. 
The success story of Sri Lanka’s pioneering investment by LOLC in Central Asia, in the financial services sector, provided useful insights into entering the Central Asian market and building a competitive business in a hitherto unexplored region. The Forum also focused on Sri Lanka’s role in the Conference on Interactions and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) which is Central Asia’s own initiative towards peace, security, stability and cooperation in Asia. Panellists, Moderators and Participants included Aruni Wijewardane, Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Senior Officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Colombo based Heads of diplomatic Missions and members of the diplomatic corps, experts from the Central Asia region, academia, and think-tanks and from Geopolitical Cartographer as well as business leaders. Valuable insights were shared on the potential of the region and collaboration with Sri Lanka. The outcomes of this Forum are expected to guide future initiatives that Sri Lanka envisages in deepening engagement with the Central Asia region leaders. Valuable insights were shared on the potential of the region and collaboration with Sri Lanka.