Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia

What Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia does

The Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) is an intergovernmental diplomatic forum founded on a 1992 initiative by President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan and formally established in 1999-2002 via the Almaty Declaration and Almaty Act. CICA convenes 28 member states spanning nearly 90% of Asia and representing over half of the world's population, alongside 10 observer states and multiple observer organizations, to advance dialogue and cooperative measures on peace, security, and stability. Its substantive work is organized across five dimensions of interaction — Economic, Environmental, Human, New Challenges and Threats, and Military-Political — operationalized through confidence-building measures, summits, ministerial meetings, senior officials committee sessions, specialized meetings, and working groups.

The CICA Secretariat, headquartered in Astana, Kazakhstan under a 2007 host-country agreement, serves as the permanent administrative body. Governance is consensus-based, with rotating chairmanship currently held by Azerbaijan for 2024-2026. Following the Sixth CICA Summit in October 2022, the organization adopted the Astana Statement on CICA Transformation and a 2023 Transformation Roadmap to convert the forum into a full-fledged international organization. A purpose-built CICA headquarters in Astana was inaugurated on July 2, 2025 by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, providing a state-of-the-art conference venue alongside Secretariat offices. Current Secretary General is Ambassador Kairat Sarybay.

CICA is funded through voluntary contributions from its member states, with Kazakhstan as the primary budget contributor; specific revenue and budget figures are not publicly disclosed. The organization has no commercial revenue, sells no products or services, and operates no traditional go-to-market motion. Its principal outputs are diplomatic events, policy documents (declarations, the CICA Catalogue of Confidence Building Measures, concept papers), and cultural publications such as the Voice of Asia digest, the CICA Chronicle, and member-state guidebooks. Strategic cooperation is maintained via MoUs with the United Nations, SCO, SCO RATS, ECO, UNODC, EAEU, OSCE, League of Arab States, IOM, and TurkPA.

Name

Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia

Legal name

Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia

Website

https://s-cica.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1992

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

CICA is an intergovernmental diplomatic forum of 28 Asian member states, headquartered in Astana, Kazakhstan, that advances multilateral dialogue and confidence-building measures across military-political, economic, environmental, human, and new-challenges dimensions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Intergovernmental Diplomatic Forum

NAICS

International Affairs (92812), National Security and International Affairs (928), International Affairs (928120)

SIC

International Affairs (9721)

akta.pro primary industry

Multilateral Diplomacy & International Representation (UN, Regional Bodies) (BPAIAIAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Protocol, State Visits & Diplomatic Events Management (BPAIAIAJ)

Keywords

• Intergovernmental diplomacy
• Confidence building measures
• Regional security cooperation
• Multilateral dialogue forums
• Asian peace initiatives

Headquarters

HQ city

Astana

HQ country

Kazakhstan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

CICA provides a multilateral diplomatic forum for 28 Asian member states to discuss and coordinate approaches to peace, security, and cooperative interaction. It implements confidence-building measures across five dimensions (Economic, Environmental, Human, New Challenges and Threats, and Military-Political) and operates through Summits, Ministerial Council meetings, Senior Officials Committee sessions, Special Working Groups, and Specialized Meetings. Complementary outputs include thematic publications (Voice of Asia digest, SME Landscape guidebook, Ecotourism Guidebook, Tourist Guidebook and Recipes, literary works, and the CICA Chronicle).

Product overview

The Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) is an international diplomatic forum rather than a commercial technology company. CICA offers publications (digests, guidebooks, chronicles, and cultural works documenting member state cooperation), organizes diplomatic summits and ministerial meetings, and facilitates confidence-building measures across five dimensions: Economic, Environmental, Human, New Challenges and Threats, and Military-Political. The organization has 28 member states covering nearly 90% of Asia and serves as a platform for dialogue to ensure peace, security, and stability. The main products are publications documenting Asian cooperation and the diplomatic infrastructure for multi-lateral meetings and events.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Confidence Building Measures across five dimensions Confidence-building measures facilitating cooperation among 28 Asian member states across the Economic, Environmental, Human, New Challenges and Threats, and Military-Political dimensions, advancing peace, security, and stability in Asia.
• CICA Diplomatic Summits and Ministerial Meetings Convening of the highest decision-making body (Summit of Heads of State and Government), Ministerial Council meetings, Senior Officials Committee meetings, and Special Working Group and Specialized Meeting sessions to advance multilateral dialogue and cooperation in Asia.
• CICA Trust Fund and Project Review Committee Mechanism for funding and reviewing joint projects among CICA member states, administered through the Project Review Committee of the CICA Fund working body.
• CICA Business Council and Think Tank Forum Advisory bodies engaging business leaders (Business Council) and policy researchers (Think Tank Forum) to support CICA's five dimensions of cooperation across member states.
• Voice of Asia quarterly digest Quarterly digest titled 'VOICE OF ASIA' providing news, updates, and analysis on CICA activities and Asian security cooperation for member states and observers.
• CICA SME Landscape in Asia Interactive Guidebook Interactive guidebook providing landscape information about small and medium enterprises across Asia for CICA member states and observers.
• CICA Ecotourism Guidebook of the CICA Region Comprehensive guidebook covering ecotourism opportunities within the CICA member states region for member states, observers, and the public.
• CICA Tourist Guidebook and Recipes of the CICA Region Publication describing 92 popular travel destinations and 86 unique traditional cuisine recipes from CICA Member States, published on CICA's 25th anniversary.
• Literary Works of CICA Member States Collection of fairy tales, poems, and stories from 16 Asian countries published for CICA's 20th anniversary, documenting the cultural heritage of member states.
• CICA Chronicle: For the Sake of Security and Cooperation Historical chronicle publication dedicated to the 30th anniversary of CICA, documenting the organization's institutional evolution and activities from 1992 to 2022.
• Tales of Asia (multilingual fairy tale collection) Collection of Asian fairy tales available in multiple languages including Arabic and Kazakh translations, supporting CICA's cultural-cooperation mandate.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• United Nations (UN)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2007CICA was granted observer status by the UN General Assembly at its 62nd session in 2007. The partnership provides international legitimacy and enables cooperation on global security issues.
• International Organization for Migration (IOM)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMoU signed between CICA and IOM for cooperation on migration and related issues.
• Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOSCE participates as an observer organization and shares experience in confidence-building measures from the European context.
• League of Arab States (LAS)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerArab League participates as an observer organization in CICA activities.
• Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic States (TurkPA)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTurkPA participates as an observer organization in CICA.
• Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMoU signed for cooperation on economic development, trade, and investment among member states.
• Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInstitutional level relations established. MoU signed for cooperation on security and regional stability.
• Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure of SCO (SCO RATS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProtocol signed for cooperation on counter-terrorism and security matters.
• United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMoU signed for cooperation on combating drug trafficking and organized crime.
• Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMoU signed for economic cooperation and integration efforts.
• Assembly of People of Kazakhstan (APK)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for civil society engagement and cultural cooperation.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF): ARF is Asia-Pacific's primary multilateral security dialogue, convening 27 members including major powers and covering conflict prevention, confidence-building, and disaster relief. ARF and CICA share substantial membership (e.g., China, Russia, India, Korea) and compete for the same mandate.
• Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO): The SCO is the most direct peer to CICA: a multilateral regional security and cooperation forum in Eurasia with overlapping membership (China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Iran, Central Asian states). Both CICA and SCO pursue security dialogue and confidence-building, though SCO has a stronger hard-security mandate via its RATS structure.
• Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE): OSCE is the European counterpart to CICA in concept — a pan-regional security dialogue and confidence-building organization. CICA's five-dimension model (military-political, economic, environmental, human, new challenges) is explicitly inspired by the OSCE's comprehensive security approach, and OSCE itself participates in CICA as an observer.
• Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO): ECO is a regional intergovernmental organization promoting economic cooperation among 10 member states, most of which are also CICA members. CICA and ECO share a MoU, and ECO provides a comparable model of multilateral Asian cooperation.

Broad incumbents

• African Union (AU): The AU is a continental intergovernmental organization with a comparable structure (Assembly, Executive Council, Permanent Secretariat) and a similar mandate of peace, security, economic cooperation, and institutional development. Egypt is a member of both AU and CICA, creating direct overlap.
• United Nations General Assembly: The UNGA is the world's principal multilateral deliberative body, of which CICA is an observer since 2007. The UNGA provides the comparative model for CICA's consensus-based multilateral diplomacy and convening function at the global level.
• Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO): CSTO is a Russia-led mutual security organization overlapping with several CICA members (Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan). While CICA is a dialogue forum, CSTO is a defense alliance, making it a broader but related incumbent in the same regional security space.
• League of Arab States: The Arab League is an observer organization at CICA and represents a regional multilateral model covering political, economic, and security cooperation among Arab states. It is a comparable institutional form operating in a different geography with overlapping members (Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, UAE, Palestine).

Regional players

• South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC): SAARC is a regional intergovernmental organization covering South Asia with overlapping membership with CICA (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan). It is a comparable multilateral forum model, though currently largely inactive.
• Pacific Islands Forum (PIF): PIF is a regional intergovernmental organization covering the Pacific region, providing a comparable model of small-to-mid multilateral cooperation on political, security, and economic issues. It represents a parallel institutional structure outside CICA's geography.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CicaSecretariat
• Facebookfacebook.com/CICASec
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cica-secretariat

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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