Within the framework of the Third United Nations Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries, a meeting was held at the level of government officials of the Caspian littoral states, the Cabinet of Ministers told APA.
The meeting focused on discussing key areas for joint action to mitigate the negative effects of the Caspian Sea's shallowing.
Speaking at the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister of Azerbaijan, Shahin Mustafayev, noted the steady growth in trade turnover among the Caspian littoral states and stated that this forms a solid foundation for deepening cooperation in both bilateral and multilateral formats.
The Deputy Prime Minister also highlighted the significance of the 3rd Caspian Economic Forum held in Tehran this February in terms of expanding trade and mutual investment volumes, as well as deepening cooperation in the energy and transport-logistics sectors.
In his speech, he also touched upon environmental challenges, noted that the drop in water levels has raised concerns throughout the region, and emphasized that this issue was first raised by the President of Azerbaijan at the Ashgabat Summit in 2022, and preparations are ongoing to organize the first meeting of the five-party expert group in Baku.
Additionally, the event featured an extensive discussion on the socio-economic and environmental aspects of the changes occurring in the Caspian Sea ecosystem. Particular attention was given to the potential impacts of water level changes on the living conditions in coastal areas and regional development processes.
Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev noted that in order to minimize the negative effects of water level fluctuations, it is necessary to expand scientific research cooperation and implement joint programs in the fields of fishery, shipping, and biodiversity conservation.
During the meeting, a proposal was put forward to launch a multilateral cooperation mechanism that would enable the development of common standards and approaches for studying the changes occurring in the Caspian Sea.
