During the 21st session of the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (CRIC-21), Minister of Ecology Aziz Abdukhakimov met with the Deputy Secretary-General of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), Huseyin Avni Bicakli.

During the meeting, H. Bicakli highlighted Uzbekistan's active role over the past 5 years and expressed appreciation to the Government of Uzbekistan for the successful hosting of the 16th ECO Summit on November 8-9, 2023, in Tashkent.

The meeting discussed cooperation in the field of scientific research, particularly establishing close relationships between scientific communities in the field of ecology among ECO countries based on the Central Asian University for Environmental and Climate Change Studies (Green University). Additionally, the parties discussed opportunities for implementing sustainable energy and environmental principles in the Central Asian region in collaboration with Green University and the Clean Energy Center in Baku, (Azerbaijan) among ECO countries.

The Deputy Secretary-General of ECO highlighted the dynamic level of cooperation between Uzbekistan and ECO countries in all spheres. In this regard, Uzbekistan's initiative to strengthen the interaction among ECO member states in addressing climate change and environmental protection was mentioned, as well as the proposal to hold the first High-Level ECO Platform Conference on Ecology within the framework of the upcoming Samarkand Climate Forum in 2024, initiated by Uzbekistan.

Furthermore, ECO expressed readiness to support the development of the Samarkand Declaration on combating sand and dust storms within the framework of CRIC-21, put forward by the head of Uzbekistan at the 16th ECO Summit.

As a result of the meeting, an agreement was reached for the participation of the Secretary-General of ECO at the Samarkand Climate Forum and joint work on the participation of high-level representatives from ECO countries.