In parallel with the sessions of the 2nd Azerbaijan National Urban Forum (NUFA2) held in Baku on September 30, the opening ceremony of which was held with the participation of President Ilham Aliyev on September 29 in Zangilan liberated from the 30-year occupation of the Armenian armed forces, a round table of ministers of the member countries of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) was organized.

Chairman of the State Committee for Urban Planning and Architecture Anar Guliyev and Secretary General of the Organization of Turkic States Kubanichbek Omuraliyev made a welcoming speech at the roundtable entitled “Regional challenges and opportunities for cooperation to achieve sustainable development goals through consistent urbanization” and touched upon the importance of the meeting. The speakers highlighted the challenges and opportunities for cooperation to achieve sustainable development goals at the regional level. At the same time, there was an exchange of views on strategies for building sustainable cities that can develop economically.

The meeting was also attended by the Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN-HABITAT), Maimunah Mohd Sharif. She expressed satisfaction with participation in the round table of ministers of the OTS member countries, which is held within the framework of the 2nd National Urban Development Forum, held with the organized support of the Azerbaijani government, and wished success.

A representative of each country presented a sample related to his chosen topic.

The issues of promoting regional partnership for sustainable development were discussed. The round table discussed issues of restoring relations through the promotion of regional transport hubs and corridors and the use of the economic potential of the Turkic states, including the study of financial opportunities for joint projects to improve cities, adapt cities to climate change and reduce risks through regional cooperation, public-private partnership in multimodal sustainable urban mobility, joint investments in innovative restoration of polluted industrial territories and land plots. A plan of intentions for future cooperation and partnership was also prepared.

It should be noted that the Organization of Turkic States includes Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkey as members, as well as Turkmenistan and Hungary as observer countries.