On May 21, AUCA held a roundtable discussion on “Lessons of ASEAN: formation of a regional economic union model.”

The high of economic growth of the ASEAN countries (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and 50 years of experience in stable economic cooperation of the countries of the union members demonstrate the stability and high economic efficiency of integration of this regional union.

The event was attended by representatives of analytical institutions, political scientists, experts on supranational unions and modeling forms of interstate economic cooperation, and representatives of the business community.

The workshop participants shared their knowledge gained through meetings with ex-foreign ministers and outstanding diplomats from Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore.

The Kyrgyz Republic is preparing for an annual summit of the heads of the SCO states. The leaders of the SCO countries will gather in Bishkek in June 2019 to discuss and adopt decisions on topical issues of the SCO member countries.

The main purpose of the roundtable was to acquaint participants with a rich experience of a supranational union of the Southeast Asia countries and identify the place and role of small states in large supranational unions.

The roundtable served as an informal platform for discussions on effective forms of regional economic unions and the role of Kyrgyzstan in such alliances. Experienced experts in the field of the SCO shared their knowledge about institutional formation and development of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Nazira Beishenaliyeva, a member of the Asia Pacific M&A Association Board of Directors, and Talant Sultanov, an expert at the Center for Strategic Initiatives and chairman of the Kyrgyz Internet Society, made a presentation “ASEAN as a model of integration in Southeast Asia”.