On October 31, 2018, within the framework of the Central Asian Expert Forum, which took place in the Information-Analytical Center for International Relations (IACIR) of Uzbekistan, a meeting was held with the Director of the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies at the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan (KISS) Zarema Shaukenova and the head of the National Institute for Strategic Studies of the Kyrgyz Republic (NISS) Kuvanychbek Shadybekov.

KISS and NISS are the leading think tanks of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, who are responsible for developing important decisions on domestic and foreign policy issues.

During the talks, special attention was paid to the issues of expanding and deepening regional cooperation in Central Asia. The representatives of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan highly appreciated the initiative of the Uzbek side to establish the Central Asian Expert Forum, stressed the importance of combining the capacity of analytical structures to develop practical proposals for promoting regional cooperation in the field of economy, transport, security and the cultural-humanitarian sphere.

Within the framework of the meeting, the parties agreed on the necessity to establish productive and mutually beneficial partnerships through research centers. At the end of the meeting, IACIR signed memorandum of cooperation with KISS and NISS.

The reached agreements envisage the organization of joint publications of articles, participation in research activities conducted by the parties, holding round table discussions, seminars and expert meetings.