ISTANBUL, May 12. /Dunyo IA/. Today, the 29th Eurasian Economic Summit began its work in Istanbul, reports Dunyo IA correspondent.

The event is organized by the Marmara Group Strategic and Social Research Foundation and will last for two days.

This year’s summit agenda covers issues of global responsibility, climate challenges, rational use of water resources, and the transformation of international relations in a changing world order.

The forum has brought together representatives from around 30 countries across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. The discussions include current and former heads of state, leaders of international organizations, as well as members of the expert and business communities.

Among the honorary guests are former presidents and prime ministers of Türkiye, Croatia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Serbia, Albania, the Czech Republic, Romania, Poland, Moldova, North Macedonia, Lebanon, and several other countries.

Uzbekistan is represented at the summit by a delegation led by the First Deputy Secretary of the Security Council and Director of the Institute for Strategic and Regional Studies (ISRS) under the President of Uzbekistan, Eldor Aripov.

At the opening ceremony, addresses from the President of Türkiye Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev were read out.

The message from the Head of State of Uzbekistan was delivered by Eldor Aripov and focused on issues of global environmental security and sustainable development. It was noted that, amid growing climate challenges in different regions of the world, the current summit is of particular relevance.

The consequences of climate change are especially severe in Central Asia, where warming is occurring faster than the global average, land degradation processes are intensifying, and glacier areas are shrinking.

In this regard, it was emphasized that ensuring environmental sustainability is one of the key priorities of the New Uzbekistan development strategy. The country is consistently implementing a large-scale green agenda.

Within the nationwide “Yashil Makon” initiative, around 200 million trees are planted annually, and large protective forest plantations are being created on the dried seabed of the Aral Sea.

At the same time, Uzbekistan is actively transitioning to a green development model. The country has already managed to reduce harmful emissions by 35 percent, and it aims to bring this figure to 50 percent by 2035. These efforts are complemented by comprehensive measures for efficient water resource management and the introduction of water-saving technologies.

Continuing this course, Uzbekistan reaffirmed its readiness to further advance the green agenda. In this context, participants of the summit were invited to upcoming international events in Uzbekistan, including the Global Environment Facility Assembly and the World Forum on Water Conservation.

In conclusion, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev confirmed Uzbekistan’s openness to broad cooperation and wished the delegates productive work and the achievement of practical results.