On June 17-18, 2021, In Turkestan city, the Conference of Central Asian Ministers of Education “Central Asian Higher Educational Area: regional cooperation, national reforms” was held.

The Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan A.K. Aimagambetov, Minister of Education of Turkmenistan O.A. Gurbanov, Minister of Higher and Secondary Specialised Education of the Republic of Uzbekistan A.Kh. Toshkulov, Vice-minister of Education and Science of the Kyrgyz Republic N.K. Omurov, as well as representatives of European organizations - the European Union, the Council of Europe, the European Commission, the Bologna Follow-up Group, Erasmus+ participated in the conference.

The participants discussed the development of higher education systems in the region and also agreed on the issue of convergence and synchronisation of educational systems in order to bring together the region's intellectual and scientific potential.

The conference ended with the adoption of Turkestan Declaration. In the Declaration, the Ministers of Education proclaimed the establishment of the Central Asian Higher Educational Area (CAHEA). There is a lot of work ahead to fill the the declaration with specific cooperation projects.