Moscow hosting 'Caspian Dialogue 2018'

The International Economic Forum 'Caspian Dialogue 2018' has opened at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations today. The forum is organized by the International Energy Policy and Diplomacy Institute (MIEP MGIMO) and the Board of 'Science and Innovation of the Caspian Sea with the support of the Russian Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment, the Ministry of Economic Development, as well as the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation and Russian Academy of Sciences. The main session of the event is devoted to the development of Caspian cooperation based on the Convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea.

Speaking with Vestnik Kavkaza, the head of the Russian-Azerbaijani parliamentary group, State Duma Deputy Dmitry Savelyev said that such events are extremely important for the development of cooperation between the Caspian states. "The Caspian issue is one of the priorities for our entire continent. We see the documents recently signed due to determining the legal status of the Caspian Sea are being discussed. It was done thanks to the many years of work of the governments of five states with the core participation of the presidents of our countries," he said in the first place.

"The Caspian is a colossal storehouse of natural resources. Certainly, it is in the focus of other states' greedy views, which use different, often unclean methods. I am the head of the Russian-Azerbaijani inter-parliamentary friendship group, and we discuss the Caspian issues very often, we discuss everything related to economic, political, environmental issues of the Caspian Sea, as well as security issues. Considering the finalization of all documents in the future, much work remains to be done. Therefore, such forums should be held as often as possible," Dmitry Savelyev stressed.

The Special Representative of the Russian president for humanitarian and economic cooperation with the Caspian countries, former head of Dagestan Ramazan Abdulatipov also stressed that after the Convention was signed, much work remains to be done for the Caspian states. "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will carry out its tasks in this direction, by holding annual consultations with the Caspian states, but in addition there is a whole range of socio-economic, cultural and humanitarian issues within the framework of Caspian cooperation, and it’s important that after 25 years of the development of the Convention we don’t spent another 25 years to realize it. We need working groups in individual areas, I have already invited our Iranian colleges to participate in such a group. Perhaps we also need an international working group and national working group - the thing is that the Convention requires about 100 amendments to existing laws," he said.

"In addition, work with the Russian Caspian regions is required. The Ministry for the North Caucasus was engaged in these issues, but other government structures should also be more actively involved. A meeting of the State Council Presidium on the Volga-Caspian region was prepared, but it did not take place due to the resignations of the regional leaders. Regional potential of the Caspian cooperation is used very poorly, few people are actively involved in these issues except for the Astrakhan region. We need the government handler.on the Caspian issues, as well as a complex government program of social, economic and cultural development of the Caspian region and cooperation," Ramazan Abdulatipov urged.