COURSE TOWARDS UNITY
The final part of the 7th Baltic-Black Sea Economic Forum, this time jointly with the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine (President Yaroslav Hadzalo), was held on April 9, 2025 in Kyiv.
Opening the working part of the forum, its Chairman of the Board Volodymyr Makukha announced another step aimed at promoting the development of effective cooperation from the countries of the Baltic Sea basin to the countries of Central Asia. At the same time, the final part of the 7th Baltic-Black Sea Economic Forum was also simultaneously declared the first Baltic-Black Sea-Caspian Forum.
The Forum was attended by more than 50 participants from European and Asian countries: representatives of the Government of Ukraine and local authorities, Ambassadors and representatives of the Embassies of Turkmenistan, Lithuania, Poland, Estonia, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, a representative of the EU Embassy in Ukraine; representatives of the parliamentary corps and scientists from Ukraine, Lithuania, Italy.
Holding the Forum a few days after the 1st summit of the European Union and Central Asian countries (held in Uzbekistan on April 3-4) allowed for a more focused discussion of the issues on the agenda, taking into account certain markers of priorities and mechanisms for the development of effective cooperation between the countries of Europe and Asia.
In his address to the forum participants, the First Vice-Speaker of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania Juozas Olekas emphasized the importance of the Baltic-Black Sea Economic Forum as an international communication platform, and also emphasized the relevance of the issues that were submitted for discussion.
As a very important communication platform, the Director of the Department of Economic Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Kira Spiridonova positioned the Baltic-Black Sea Economic Forum, emphasizing the fruitful cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine with the international team of the forum.
Three interrelated issues were included in the agenda:
- composite solutions to the problems of ensuring global food security;
- creation of industrial parks and free economic zones as one of the effective mechanisms for restoring the Ukrainian economy;
- prospects for the development of the agricultural sector in the context of climate change.
In addition to the relevance and importance of the issues brought up for discussion, the First Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine Taras Vysotsky, in particular, pointed out the important communication role that the Forum platform plays, especially given its targeted expansion to the shores of the Caspian Sea and Central Asian countries. "This fact opens up additional communication opportunities, in particular, related to ensuring global food security, solving problems of optimizing agricultural supplies," the First Vice Minister noted.
