(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 2. Azerbaijan will continue to play the role of a connecting link on the way to the strengthening of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA), Yalchin Rafiyev, the country's deputy foreign minister and COP29 lead negotiator, said during an international conference on the“Role of Universities in Green Energy and Sustainability” being held at ADA University, Trend reports.

"One of the most important priorities of the Azerbaijani presidency is education and science. It's no coincidence that the founding meeting of the Coordinating Council of the Partnership Network of Leading Universities in February was the first event after we accepted the presidency. The full launch of this network is one of our significant achievements, which made today's conference possible," Rafiyev added.

He noted that the network was created to strengthen the partnership between the systems of higher education, universities, and academic communities of member states of the CICA to promote academic exchange and the development of joint research.

"We expect that this cooperation will strengthen mutual trust and understanding-the basic values ​​of the CICA.

We urge the network to actively interact with other consultative bodies, develop joint initiatives, and strengthen trust measures," Rafiyev announced.

He added that Baku is preparing to host the conference of the CICA next year.

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