Speech by the Uzbekistan President in 14th ECO
04.03.2021
Your Excellency, Dear Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdogan!
Dear Heads of State and Government!
Dear Secretary General Mr. Suleimanpour!
First of all, allow me to express my best wishes to all the participants in the Economic Cooperation Organization Summit.
I express my deep gratitude to the distinguished President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for effective chairmanship of the Organization, despite the difficulties of the pandemic, and for the preparation of this forum at a high level.
I express my gratitude to our Turkish friends and personally to Mr. Erdogan for their great support in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
From the bottom of my heart, I congratulate the distinguished President Gurbanguly Myalikguliyevich Berdimuhamedov on the transfer of the chairmanship of the Organization to Turkmenistan.
I look forward to our face-to-face meeting at the next summit in Ashgabat.
Dear participants of the meeting!
The Economic Cooperation Organization space is a region with enormous potential with a common history, religion, culture and values.
From time immemorial, mutual respect and trust, trade, transport and communication ties have united our friendly peoples.
The topic of today's summit - "Regional Economic Cooperation in the Post-COVID-19 Period" - is very relevant. After all, the pandemic, which has a negative impact on the world economy, has not spared our countries either.
It clearly revealed our strengths and weaknesses, our obvious interconnectedness and the need to further strengthen the economic partnership.
In the modern world, characterized by an aggravated competition for technologies and resources, investments and access to external markets, it is especially important to combine our efforts and potential, to widely use the complementary factors of our economies.
At the same time, it should be noted that the trade and economic, financial, investment, transport, communication and energy opportunities available within the framework of our Organization are not fully used.
In this regard, in order to further develop multilateral partnership in the main areas of the Economic Cooperation Organization - 2025 program, I would like to put forward the following proposals.
First, the main driver of economic growth is the expansion of trade and investment ties.
In recent years, the total trade turnover of Uzbekistan with the member states of the Organization has almost doubled. Last year, despite the difficult situation, we managed to maintain these volumes.
We believe the time has come to lift trade and transport restrictions imposed by the Organization's countries during the quarantine period.
I think that the widespread adoption of digital technologies and e-commerce will greatly facilitate our trade cooperation.
Based on this, we consider it necessary to accelerate the negotiation and adoption of the Agreement on mutual trade proposed by Turkey.
Secondly, the development of industrial cooperation based on the principle of complementarity will help to improve the well-being of the peoples of our countries.
We believe that for the implementation of this important action plan, it is advisable to develop a joint "Roadmap", including specific directions and projects.
Thirdly, an urgent issue is to ensure the free movement of funds, goods and services between the member states, the expansion of interbank ties and financing.
We propose to hold an International Banking and Financial Forum in the near future with the participation of the banks of our countries, which will serve the practical implementation of these tasks.
Fourth, expanding the network of transport corridors and increasing the transit potential of our regions will further enhance economic cooperation.
We are interested in the further development of transport corridors Uzbekistan - Turkmenistan - Iran - Oman, Uzbekistan - Kyrgyzstan - China, as well as routes providing access through Azerbaijan to Turkey and European countries.
In addition, the construction of the new Mazar-i-Sharif-Kabul-Peshawar railway is essential for the integration of Afghanistan into our vast region and for sustainable development.
Fifthly, we consider it necessary, together with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), to develop and adopt a new program of our Organization in the field of food security.
In this regard, we are ready to hold a regular meeting of the ministers of agriculture of the member states of the Economic Cooperation Organization in Uzbekistan this year.
Sixth, our region, which has huge renewable energy resources, has great opportunities for the development of a "green economy".
I propose to develop and approve a Medium-Term Strategy aimed at ensuring energy sustainability and broadly attracting investments and modern technologies in this area.
Seventh, in our region, in particular, in the Aral Sea region, we fully feel the negative consequences of environmental problems and global climate change. It is necessary to unite all our efforts to resolve this issue.
We consider it expedient to create concrete effective mechanisms of regional cooperation in this direction.
Eighth, we need to further strengthen cooperation in the health sector.
We propose to create and implement within the Organization a system for monitoring the epidemiological situation and early planning of appropriate measures.
Dear participants of the meeting!
In conclusion, I would like to stress once again that through joint efforts we will undoubtedly be able to raise cooperation within the framework of our Organization to a new, even higher level.
Thank you for attention.
Your Excellency, Dear Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdogan!
Dear Heads of State and Government!
Dear Secretary General Mr. Suleimanpour!
First of all, allow me to express my best wishes to all the participants in the Economic Cooperation Organization Summit.
I express my deep gratitude to the distinguished President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for effective chairmanship of the Organization, despite the difficulties of the pandemic, and for the preparation of this forum at a high level.
I express my gratitude to our Turkish friends and personally to Mr. Erdogan for their great support in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
From the bottom of my heart, I congratulate the distinguished President Gurbanguly Myalikguliyevich Berdimuhamedov on the transfer of the chairmanship of the Organization to Turkmenistan.
I look forward to our face-to-face meeting at the next summit in Ashgabat.
Dear participants of the meeting!
The Economic Cooperation Organization space is a region with enormous potential with a common history, religion, culture and values.
From time immemorial, mutual respect and trust, trade, transport and communication ties have united our friendly peoples.
The topic of today's summit - "Regional Economic Cooperation in the Post-COVID-19 Period" - is very relevant. After all, the pandemic, which has a negative impact on the world economy, has not spared our countries either.
It clearly revealed our strengths and weaknesses, our obvious interconnectedness and the need to further strengthen the economic partnership.
In the modern world, characterized by an aggravated competition for technologies and resources, investments and access to external markets, it is especially important to combine our efforts and potential, to widely use the complementary factors of our economies.
At the same time, it should be noted that the trade and economic, financial, investment, transport, communication and energy opportunities available within the framework of our Organization are not fully used.
In this regard, in order to further develop multilateral partnership in the main areas of the Economic Cooperation Organization - 2025 program, I would like to put forward the following proposals.
First, the main driver of economic growth is the expansion of trade and investment ties.
In recent years, the total trade turnover of Uzbekistan with the member states of the Organization has almost doubled. Last year, despite the difficult situation, we managed to maintain these volumes.
We believe the time has come to lift trade and transport restrictions imposed by the Organization's countries during the quarantine period.
I think that the widespread adoption of digital technologies and e-commerce will greatly facilitate our trade cooperation.
Based on this, we consider it necessary to accelerate the negotiation and adoption of the Agreement on mutual trade proposed by Turkey.
Secondly, the development of industrial cooperation based on the principle of complementarity will help to improve the well-being of the peoples of our countries.
We believe that for the implementation of this important action plan, it is advisable to develop a joint "Roadmap", including specific directions and projects.
Thirdly, an urgent issue is to ensure the free movement of funds, goods and services between the member states, the expansion of interbank ties and financing.
We propose to hold an International Banking and Financial Forum in the near future with the participation of the banks of our countries, which will serve the practical implementation of these tasks.
Fourth, expanding the network of transport corridors and increasing the transit potential of our regions will further enhance economic cooperation.
We are interested in the further development of transport corridors Uzbekistan - Turkmenistan - Iran - Oman, Uzbekistan - Kyrgyzstan - China, as well as routes providing access through Azerbaijan to Turkey and European countries.
In addition, the construction of the new Mazar-i-Sharif-Kabul-Peshawar railway is essential for the integration of Afghanistan into our vast region and for sustainable development.
Fifthly, we consider it necessary, together with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), to develop and adopt a new program of our Organization in the field of food security.
In this regard, we are ready to hold a regular meeting of the ministers of agriculture of the member states of the Economic Cooperation Organization in Uzbekistan this year.
Sixth, our region, which has huge renewable energy resources, has great opportunities for the development of a "green economy".
I propose to develop and approve a Medium-Term Strategy aimed at ensuring energy sustainability and broadly attracting investments and modern technologies in this area.
Seventh, in our region, in particular, in the Aral Sea region, we fully feel the negative consequences of environmental problems and global climate change. It is necessary to unite all our efforts to resolve this issue.
We consider it expedient to create concrete effective mechanisms of regional cooperation in this direction.
Eighth, we need to further strengthen cooperation in the health sector.
We propose to create and implement within the Organization a system for monitoring the epidemiological situation and early planning of appropriate measures.
Dear participants of the meeting!
In conclusion, I would like to stress once again that through joint efforts we will undoubtedly be able to raise cooperation within the framework of our Organization to a new, even higher level.
Thank you for attention.