The Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) opened Wednesday in Egypt's Red Sea resort city of Sharm el Sheikh, the assistant foreign minister for international security said.

About 26 Asian and Arab states will take part in the two-day gathering which falls within the framework of preparations for a ministerial meeting due to be held in China in April, Hesham Badr said.

The Sharm conference will address issues related to supporting security and stability in Asia as well as means of promoting Arab-Asian cooperation in the political, military and economic domains, he said.

Egypt's hosting of the conference reflects its keenness on communicating with the Asian continent, he said.

He noted that the Egyptian-Asian ties have recently witnessed a leap.

The CICA is an inter-governmental forum for enhancing cooperation towards promoting peace, security and stability in Asia. It is a forum based on the recognition that there is close link between peace, security and stability in Asia and in the rest of the world.

The idea of convening the CICA was first mooted by Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev on 5 October 1992, at the 47th Session of the United Nations General Assembly. 

Source : MENA