First of all, I would like to thank the organizers for their hospitality and excellent arrangements for the meeting. It is heartening to see that TASAM has devoted the 5th International Turkish-Asian Congress to "Building of Security in Asia and CICA". This is a very clear reflection of the seriousness of the Republic of Turkey and its think-tanks/institutions in taking forward the CICA process to new heights. I have absolutely no doubt that this Congress will go a long way to achieving this ambitious target.