e-CAMCA Week 2020 was held on June 15-19, 2020 and brought together speakers and participants from 15 countries to discuss issues, trends, challenges and opportunities in the CAMCA region post-COVID-19.

Key Events  

Main events included keynote remarks, video addresses and online panel discussions as well as the release of numerous articles, commentaries, briefs and updates.

Remarks and sessions included:  A welcoming address from H.E. Erzhan Kazykhanov, Ambassador of Kazakhstan to the United States; remarks on "U.S. Engagement with Central Asia: Advancing Sovereignty & Economic Independence” from Lisa Curtis, Deputy Assistant to the President and National Security Council Senior Director for South and Central Asia; and remarks from Kairat Kelimbetov, Governor of the Astana International Financial Centre; a live virtual keynote address and Q&A by Robert Zoellick, Principal of Brunswick Group’s Geopolitical Advisory and former President of the World Bank Group; and live virtual panel sessions on the following topics: "Post-Coronavirus Pandemic Challenges and Opportunities for the CAMCA Region," "Afghanistan: What Comes First? Peace, Trade or Both Together?" and "CAMCA Network Report on Intraregional Trade: Growth Potential?"

Speakers

In addition to those mentioned above, speakers included distinguished professionals from a variety of sectors: Senator Sodyq Safoev, First Deputy Chairman of the Senate of Oliy Majlis of Uzbekistan; Dr. S. Frederick Starr, Chairman of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute; Dr. Svante Cornell, Director of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute; S. Enders Wimbush, President of StrateVarious; Michael Sellman, Co-CEO of Calatrava Grace Corporation; Andrew Michta, Dean of the College of International and Security Studies at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Germany; Dr. Vanda Felbab-Brown, Senior Fellow of the Foreign Policy Program at the Brooking Institution’s Center for 21^st Century Security and Intelligence, and Senior Advisor to the congressionally-mandated Afghanistan Peace Process Study Group; Amb. Nasir Andisha, Permanent Representative of Afghanistan to the United Nations Office at Geneva; Dr. Orzala Ashraf Nemat, Director of The Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit; Zabihullah Ziarmal, Founder & President of the World Trade Centre in Afghanistan and the First Vice Chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce in Afghanistan.  In addition, speakers included the following CAMCA Network Members: Dulguun Baasandavaa, CEO of BGB Peak LLC, Mongolia; Zafar Hashemi, Senior Analyst at the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR); Shoaib Rahim, Senior Adviser at the Ministry of Peace of Afghanistan; Nona Mamulashvili, Founder and Chairwoman of the Caucasus Economic Policy Institute and Vice President of the International Chamber of Commerce of Georgia; Shuhrat Mirzoev, Founder and Managing Partner of IRSHAD Consulting LLC (Tajikistan); and Sardor Mukhamedaliev, Chief Government Relations Officer of VEON Uzbekistan.

Publications  

e-CAMCA Week publications included:

• Welcome Letter from Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Dr. S. Frederick Starr
• The Value of CAMCA
• Post COVID-19: Challenges & Opportunities for the CAMCA Region
• Digital Transformation in the CAMCA Region
• Meet CAMCA Entrepreneurs
• CAMCA Virtual Business Expo
• 2020 CAMCA Country Updates
• Strasbourg Policy Centre's "Caucasus & Central Asia Post Covid-19" Series – Vol. I
• Sino-American Competition Is Coming to Central Asia