International CICA and SCO marathon to be held in Astana

ASTANA. KAZINFORM International CICA and SCO Marathon are scheduled to begin in Kazakh capital on August 27. This was announced by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, Akylbek Kamaldinov, during the CICA civil forum of national and cultural centers "Cultural openness - basis of peace and harmony", Kazinform correspondent reports.

He expressed gratitude to China who is currently chairing CICA and the Executive Director Jianwei Gong for their assistance in organizing the events.

As it was reported, the CICA Forum of National Cultural Centers is taking place in Astana's Independence Palace.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Akylbek Kamaldinov in his welcoming speech congratulated everyone on the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA).

"We together have come a long way over these years and created a structure that has taken its place in world politics, becoming an effective tool for building security and confidence between CICA member countries and beyond. The success of the CICA process was predetermined by the fact that it meets the common aspiration of the peoples of Asia to live in a genuine and lasting peace free from any threat to security," he said.