On June 19, 2018 in the National Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Astana, the XIII Forum of Creative and Scientific Intelligentsia of the countries-participants of the Commonwealth of Independent States, in which the delegation of Turkmenistan participates, began its work. The theme of the annual meeting was "Dialogue in the CIS - prospects for humanitarian cooperation in the 21st century".
The event, organized with the support of the Intergovernmental Foundation for Educational, Scientific and Cultural Cooperation of the CIS, brought together prominent cultural, scientific and educational figures, heads of state structures, international organizations and public associations of the Commonwealth countries, media representatives.
More than 200 delegates from Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan take part in the forum.
The work of the forum was preceded by an exhibition that introduces the history, original culture and modern achievements of the Kazakh people, the formation and development plans of Astana, celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.
At the opening ceremony it was noted that, meeting at the forum's discussion areas, the cultural and scientific and educational community of the CIS countries has the opportunity for direct professional communication and support of relevant projects in the humanitarian sphere.
Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for International Cultural Cooperation, Co-chairman of the IFESCCO Board Mikhail Shvydkoi read out an address to the participants of the meeting from the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin.
In his turn, the Chairman of the Board of the Intergovernmental Foundation for Educational, Scientific and Cultural Cooperation of the CIS member states Polad Bulbul oglu stressed the positive nature of the current forum as a unique mechanism for the advancement of progressive ideas and the development of interethnic dialogue.
Within the framework of the plenary session a presentation under the title "The Cultural Capital of the Commonwealth of 2019 - the city of Brest, the Republic of Belarus" was also organized.
In the second half of the day, a discussion took place titled "Intercultural Dialogue in the CIS - New Opportunities for Culture, Science, Education", where promising forms of expanding humanitarian cooperation between our countries were discussed.
In general, the task of the current forum is to give new impetus to key aspects of joint cooperation, to identify the most in-demand areas and to develop new approaches for further building up the partnership of the Commonwealth countries.
