The 6th Plenary Assembly of the South Caucasus Parliamentary Initiative met in Dubai from 16th to 19th December 2006 with the participation of delegations from the Parliaments of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.
The meeting adopted an important document on regional interaction in the fields of banking, environment and transport that has been elaborated by a group of experts from the three countries working under the auspices of SCPI over the last four months. The document provides extensive analysis of the situation in the region in the three spheres. It also makes 27 recommendations on possible areas of interaction in the three spheres, to be implemented in tandem with progress in the conflict resolution process. Whilst recognising that normal regional co-operation in the South Caucasus is impossible before the conflicts are resolved, the report evaluates the impact of the conflict on the three spheres and includes a matrix outlining ways in which interaction can be increased in line with progress in the conflict resolution process. The Secretariat of SCPI will next month launch a public discussion on the report in the three countries.
At the end of the 6th Plenary Assembly the Presidency of the South Caucasus Parliamentary Initiative passed from the Parliament of Armenia to the Parliament of Azerbaijan. The new President of the Initiative, Mr. Siyavoush Novruzov MP (Azerbaijan), said that the 6th Plenary Assembly opened a new chapter in the work of SCPI and the report on banking, environment and transport in the South Caucasus provided an opportunity for serious discussions between the parliamentarians of the three countries on sectors that are crucial for the development of the three countries.
Spokesperson for the Secretariat of SCPI said that during the 6th Plenary Assembly there were intensive discussions on some of the most difficult issues facing the region at present. For the first time the Plenary Assembly ended without the adoption of a final communiqué since the delegation of the Parliament of Georgia was not satisfied with the wording of the communiqué on the situation of ethnic Georgians in the Russian Federation. However the adoption of a ninety three page document on Banking, Environment and Transport marks a deepening of the South Caucasus Parliamentary Initiative process and in the way that the initiative conducts its work. The spokesperson added that all three delegations have reaffirmed their commitment to the development of the process.
From 1st January 2007 information on the South Caucasus Parliamentary Initiative, including documents from all previous meetings of the initiative, will be available on the new SCPI web page www.southcaucasus.eu
