The participants of the plenary session were welcomed by the First President of Kazakhstan - Elbasy Nursultan Nazarbayev, who stressed that Astana Club has occupied its unique niche in the system of international dialogue platforms becoming an authoritative and significant forum.

- The growing internal transport connectivity of the Eurasian megacontinent opens up unprecedented opportunities for joint development in the history of mankind. An open and honest dialogue is needed, which will allow us to bypass the existing risks and reveal new prospects for cooperation in Greater Eurasia, - said Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Noting the trend of large-scale resumption of conflicts and geopolitical confrontations around the world, the First President of Kazakhstan spoke about his vision of key risks negatively affecting the geopolitical situation in Eurasia.

- We are concerned about the situation in the world economy, which is increasingly showing signs of an impending crisis. Global institutions provide disappointing forecasts related to the backdrop of growing trade contradictions and geopolitical instability in the world. Slowing global growth is having a negative impact on global trade. All these factors undermine world stability, - stated Nursultan Nazarbayev.

In addition, he emphasized the problem of sanctions and trade wars between the world powers.

- The confrontation between the leading powers is automatically transferred to many hot spots of Eurasia, complicating the already difficult process of peaceful settlement of crises in Syria and Ukraine. And Brexit has become a key anti-integration event of recent times, - said the First President of Kazakhstan.

Also he stressed the threats associated with the process of uncontrolled militarization throughout Eurasia and the shift of confrontation of the world 's leading states into the field of technology.

- Rising tensions between the US and China have already disrupted global technology chains, destabilizing the global high-tech market. The development of artificial intelligence is gaining momentum, which carries both huge opportunities and huge challenges, - pointed Nursultan Nazarbayev.

In addition, the First President of Kazakhstan emphasized the situation in the Middle East, which in turn plays an important role in ensuring global energy security.

In order to reset the security system in Eurasia and develop its qualitatively new vision, he proposed a number of practical measures aimed at defining new "rules of the game" in Greater Eurasia.

- It is necessary to critically rethink the basic approaches in the formation of the continental security architecture. Year 2020 marks the 10th anniversary of the adoption of the OSCE Astana Declaration, which raised the importance of forming a unified community of Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian security. These issues can be effectively resolved when combining the capacities of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, - said Nursultan Nazarbayev.

The First President of Kazakhstan also initiated the establishment of the Global Alliance of Leaders for a Nuclear-Free World, which should become an authoritative global platform for advancing the nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation agenda.

We have repeatedly talked about the need to halt the erosion of existing nuclear disarmament agreements. In the run-up to the Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons next year, we should again reflect on the need to universalize the basic provisions of this instrument. I believe that it is necessary to tighten measures of international responsibility for withdrawal from the Treaty, supported by relevant resolutions at the UN Security Council level, - said Nursultan Nazarbayev.

At the same time, he spoke about the need to develop effective security guarantees for North Korea by all members of the UN Security Council and to form a Catalogue of Confidence-Building Measures between Pyongyang and Seoul aimed at stabilizing the situation on the Korean peninsula.

- I see the future of Eurasia in building a united community, which should be supported by a systemic economic dialogue between key integration associations of the continent. Pragmatic cooperation between the Eurasian Economic Union, the European Union, SCO, ASEAN and the Belt and Road initiative will give a powerful impetus to the formation of Greater Eurasia, stabilizing the entire political space of the world 's largest mainland. I consider absolutely unacceptable the situation when to this day the full dialogue between the EU and the Eurasian Economic Union has not been built, - said the First President of Kazakhstan.

Nursultan Nazarbayev noted that as an Honorary Chairman of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council he is ready to provide comprehensive support for the implementation of the EU-EAEU partnership dialogue mechanism.

- In today's conditions, countries of the continent should not limit themselves in the framework of narrow regionalism and block thinking, but think in broader "Eurasian categories". Only this way will be able to realize the huge potential that the Eurasian "supercontinent" has. And I am pleased to note that it is our Club that acts today as the ideological platform of a new geopolitical construction called “Greater Eurasia”, - said the First President of Kazakhstan.

The speakers and headliners of the Astana Club included such famous politicians and thinkers as Mohammed ElBaradei, Jose Manuel Barroso, Ahmet Davutoglu, Vaclav Klaus, Abdullah Gul, Boris Tadic, Hamid Karzai, George Friedman, Ian Morris, Robert Kaplan and many others.

In the conclusion of his speech, the First President of Kazakhstan expressed his confidence that the current level of mutual benefit will overcome all difficulties and ensure the prosperous development of Eurasia.

The expert discussions at the Astana Club 2019 focused on the current aggravation of the confrontation in the triangle of the USA, China and Russia, the growth of trade protectionism and populist sentiments, as well as the new round of escalation around Iran and North Korea.

The second edition of the “Top 10 Risks for Eurasia in 2020” Analytical Rating, developed by the Institute of World Economy and Politics, was presented to the attention of participants and the general public during the event.

Among them are the aftershocks of the US presidential election in 2020, the global economic recession, the escalation of the US-China confrontation, the new stage of the global arms race, the intensification of the struggle for technological dominance, the military campaign against Iran, the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula, the new surge of terrorism, the wave of aggressive nationalism and populism, and the large-scale climate change issues.

Over the period of its activity, the Club was attended by more than 200 speakers from 40 countries, including the USA, China, Russia, Iran, Germany, Turkey, Great Britain, France, Japan, South Korea and others.