On May 16, 2016, the 38th meeting of the GUAM Council of National Coordinators (СNС) took place in the GUAM Secretariat in Kyiv. The Deputy Head of the Regional Security Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan R. Sadigbayli, (the Presiding Party), the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, the GUAM National Coordinator from Georgia D. Jalaganiya, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, the GUAM National Coordinator from the Republic of Moldova L. Daria, Ambassador for Special Assignments of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine A. Kononenko and GUAM Secretary General A. Efendiev.
During the meeting, the Council heard information from the Secretariat on the implementation of the Program of the Chairmanship of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the Organization for Democracy and Economic Development – GUAM. СNС considered the issues of political interaction in the GUAM format, in particular, took into account information on the development of plans for interaction between the Permanent Delegations of the GUAM member states to international organizations for 2016 and recommended completion of this work in the near future. An exchange of views on issues of regional security was held as well as issues of interparliamentary cooperation.
During the meeting, the Council of National Coordinator discussed a set of issues of the GUAM sectoral cooperation, in particular, in economy and trade, the project to promote trade and transport, culture and tourism, youth and sports, ect. Thus, CNC suggested considering the initiative of Ukraine to establish the GUAM Working Group on Youth and Sports at a meeting of experts from relevant departments of the member states.
The Council also heard information from the Secretariat on the current activities of the Working Groups and Subgroups on Combating Crime.
The CNC discussed the issues of cooperation with other states and international organizations, in particular, took into account the information of the Secretariat on holding on May 17, 2016 in the GUAM Secretariat a separate meeting of GUAM member states participating in the Seminar «Environment – Waste Management» (21-29 February 2016, Japan). Also, the Council heard information from the Secretariat on signing the Memorandum of Cooperation with the World Tourism Organization (WTO). The CNC instructed the Secretariat to continue working towards expanding and deepening cooperation with interested partners in the format GUAM+.
The place and date of the next meeting of the Council of National Coordinators will be agreed through diplomatic channels.
