Statement by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the
Mrs. Chairman,
Dear participants,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
First of all, I would like to express our gratitude to the government of the
We believe that positive experience in conducting interfaith dialogue, gained by each country, is extremely important.
Globalization became a symbol of our epoch. Yet, while opening tremendous perspectives and offering great opportunities for the development of societies and states, it creates new challenges as well. The widening gap between the developed and developing countries is becoming one of the causes of further marginalization of certain segments of society and of a whole group of countries. Poverty creates a breeding ground for radicalized opinions and pushes people to extremist actions.
We welcome the increasing attention of the United Nations to the development of inter-religious dialogue for peace. In recent years, the General Assembly adopted a number of important resolutions on the promotion of inter-religious dialogue, the development of mutual understanding, harmony and cooperation between religions and cultures, and the elimination of all forms of religious intolerance.
In
Dialogue among religions and civilizations is an integral part of efforts aimed at promoting the culture of peace and common values of the Millennium Declaration. Such a dialogue helps to develop understanding and tolerance, while strengthening friendship among peoples in all the multiplicity of their religions, faiths, cultures and languages. We believe there is a need to closely engage governments, civil society, media, private sector and the international organizations in strengthening inter-religious ties.
It is very important to take practical steps to strengthen cooperation among different religions, particularly in the areas of education and mass media, to reinforce mutual understanding and tolerance in order to overcome intolerance and to fight stereotypes. We consider it important that lessons learned by different countries in developing inter-religious dialogue be studied, disseminated and put into practice.
That is why
The Congress succeeded in institutionalizing the inter-religious dialogue process by establishing its permanent secretariat. I would like to inform you that the second Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, is to be held next year in Astana, to discuss the issue of “Religions, Society and International Security”.
At present, a
It is also important to have regional organizations actively participating in the dialogue. Therefore, we offered to host an OSCE conference on interfaith concord in
Minister of Foreign Affairs Kassymzhomart Tokaev holds a meeting with
(9 March 2006,
Within frameworks of the visit to
During the meeting K.Tokaev informed representatives of leading British financial and investment companies of the results of the implemented economic and political reforms that allowed
British businessmen expressed great interest in creating in Almaty a Regional financial centre based on the model of
Kazakh diplomat answered numerous questions of British businessmen concerning investment policy of our government, appearance of Kazakh companies at the world markets, development of financial sector and the work of pension funds.
The same day the head of Kazakh Foreign Ministry made a speech on the topic “
The full text of the speech can be found in the section “Speeches of the Minister of Foreign Affairs”.
ADDRESS
BY
MR.KASSYMZHOMART TOKAEV,
MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
OF THE
AT THE
RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT SESSION
Distinguished heads of delegations,
Ladies and gentlemen,
The Afghanistan Compact provides us with broader prospects for advancing positive achievements that we all accomplished during last 4 years after the Bonn Conference.
The Government of Kazakhstan intends to take the following concrete steps to support the implementation of the Afghan Compact.
First.
We will assist
Second.
Third. We welcome trilateral cooperation between donor-states, the Afghan Governmental agencies with regional states and companies to secure lower prices for goods imported to
Fourth. The Kazakh-Afghan Joint Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation was established to stimulate economic interaction. Its first meeting will be held in
This January the Afghani air company “Kam Air” has started weekly charter flights from
Fifth. In the framework of agricultural infrastructure reconstruction programs
Sixth. From our point of view, the accession of
Seventh. We believe that
Mr. Chairman,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Viewing
Thank you for attention.
ADDRESS
by
MR.KASSYMZHOMART TOKAEV,
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the
at the
Counter-narcotics Session
Mr. Chairman,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
At the very outset, I wish to express my deep appreciation to the governments of
As it is very well-known, the counter-narcotics struggle is closely connected to funding terrorism activities, instability of social, economic and political situations, international crimes. The scale of narcotics production in
Fully realizing the importance of combining and coordinating counter-narcotics efforts
1. During the upcoming visit of Minister of Counter Narcotics of Afghanistan Mr. Habibulla Kaderi to
2.
3. Within the framework of the first meeting of Kazakh-Afghan Joint Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation, which will be held this April, the assistance by Kazakhstan on reconstruction of agriculture sector of Afghanistan will be considered as a top priority, in particular, we are to supply seeds, mineral fertilizers, and agricultural equipments to Afghanistan as a countermeasure to opium cultivation.
4. We suggest to adjust or universalize the national legislation of
5.
Participation of
6. Among the other regional structures on combating the illicit drug trafficking I would like to refer to the role of the Organization of Collective Security Treaty (OCST). Recently, the OCST successfully carried out joint counter-narcotics operation "Channel-2005" in
The OCST has established a working group on
7. Yet another regional effort meant to deal with the illicit drug trafficking is the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). Taking into account the geographic representation of the SCO we can say that it has all the potential for contributing into the success of our common endeavor. Last year the SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group has been established to promote interaction in the fight against drug trafficking as well political and economic cooperation.
Mr. Chairman,
Ladies and gentlemen,
We hope that the London Conference will be crowned with eventual success, particularly in terms of consolidating joint actions to eradicate a nutrient environment for activities of illicit drug dealers.
Thank you for attention.
Speech by H.E. Mr. Kassymzhomart Tokaev, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the
2005-12-09
Mr. Secretary-General,
Dear Colleagues,
I appreciate the opportunity to attend this meeting, which seems to be extremely important in terms of identifying areas of common interests.
In this regard, I would like to make some points on how we, in
First. Either the North-Atlantic Alliance or Central Asian countries, both should share common concern about continuous spreading out of the so called new threats and challenges. International terrorism, drug trafficking, illegal migration, conventional weapons sales, danger of nuclear proliferation – this striking agenda, from our view, has to be a matter of common concern and become a pillar of our cooperation. All of us have to carry out adequate analysis of the current situation in our part of the world in order to jointly undertake drastic and efficient measures to safeguard our peoples from the impacts of the activities of those who are engaged in illegal business.
I am sending my sincere felicitations to Minister Hikmet Cetin who was very instrumental in supporting my country in the very beginning of our independence.
Second. We have to bear in mind that poverty and unemployment result from the lack of good governance and economic reforms. Poverty and unemployment are the source of terrorism and conflicts. It could be our common value that the market economy should prevail in newly independent countries. We still have to learn how to promote regional integration and cooperation, how to attract more investment for the benefit of our countries. For instance,
We also must pay attention to corruption which undermines stability and poses a real challenge to the security and well-being of the peoples.
Third. It is in our common interest to provide to all the countries concerned an equal access to the energy resources. That is the reason why
Fourth. We have to be seriously concerned about bringing closer our political cultures. Despite the fact we share such a common value like democracy, we must admit that still there is a huge gap in understanding and assessments of many things that occur in the contemporary world. Sometimes it seems to be natural, sometimes it creates mutual suspicion and hinders cooperation between us. There should be no room for deliberations about clashes of civilizations, cultures and traditions. There should be an equal dialogue, exchange of views, mutual understanding and tolerance. Free choice of the peoples who vote for the policy of reforms, against upheavals and poverty, must be respected.
And finally, we all have to think about early launching political reforms to build up civil societies. The democracy-building process is very complicated given the fact we had no such traditions, either political or cultural. Democracies can not be built overnight, particularly in our region. However, we have to act, to go ahead with reforms, otherwise our countries will be lagging behind the aspirations of our peoples.
That’s why we need more support, more cooperation, including those with NATO which is an important element of our international policy.
Thank you for your attention.
Mr. Chairman,
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
This High-Level Plenary Meeting offers a unique opportunity to reaffirm our commitments and significantly advance the Millennium Development Goals and other development objectives. Achievement of the MDGs should become a central element of the efforts by the international community to put an end to poverty, conflicts, instability and terrorism. Economic and social development as well as international cooperation must become a key element of preventive approach to collective security.
As indicated by the President of Kazakhstan in his last state of the nation Address, I quote: “Our agenda today is a new milestone in the economic and political development of the country, its further modernization and democratization.
The 2005 Report of Kazakhstan on MDGs, prepared by my Government and UN Country Team, which is available in this room, indicates that our country has already achieved a number of goals including on universal education and eradication of poverty, as well as on gender promotion. Our principle policy is to build a solid economy basis for comprehensive political reforms to promote civil society institutions.
Mr.Chairman,
The International economic environment for developing countries remains propitious as the international trade continues to grow robustly, the costs of external financing are at historical lows and capital inflows are increasing. Nevertheless, for the poorest countries with limited access to the international trade, external market conditions alone do not provide sufficient impetus for them to achieve the MDGs.
Therefore the donor countries have to make, maintain or accelerate their commitment to reach MDGs and other long-standing targets. Developed partners should make concrete efforts towards compliance with their commitment of providing 0.7 percent of Gross National Product as official development assistance to the developing countries.
We also call to expedite the implementation of international development commitments of recent years such as Johannesburg Declaration, Almaty Programme of Action,
Mr. Chairman,
Taking into account the fact that sustainable development is an important component of the development process, my Government developed a Concept on Environmental Security for ten years of ahead and National Plan of Action on Environment Protection. Main priority of these documents is to apply principles of sustainable development into economy, legislation and governance.
However in spite of all our efforts situation in Aral sea and Former Nuclear Test-site in
Mr. Chairman,
In conclusion I would like to indicate the MDGs can be met, especially through expanded activities at the national and international levels on the basis of balanced responsibility provided that there will be the political will of all countries concerned.
Thank you for attention.Mr. President,
Mr. Secretary-General,
Distinguished Heads of State,
This anniversary summit is a milestone event in the history of the United Nations. We are duty bound to adopt here decisions designed to radically improve the functioning of the United Nations. In our view, the reform of the United Nations should be geared, first and foremost, to the consolidation of the international community in pursuit of the Millennium Development Goals.
That is why we should focus our efforts on enhancing the effectiveness of our Organization. This task is all the more important in view of serious lapses in the work of the United Nations. As members of the community of nations, we should work to improve the image of the United Nations as the bastion of peoples’ hopes and aspirations. The quality of decisions taken by the United Nations should be improved, their implementation should be monitored more closely and human resources management should be enhanced. In this context, it is very important to strengthen the functions of the United Nations Secretariat.
As to the enlargement of the Security Council, we believe that this issue should be, ultimately, resolved on the basis of a broad international agreement in accordance with the principle of equitable geographical representation and taking into account the contribution of states concerned toward the development of the world economy and regional and global security.
Peacekeeping functions of the United Nations should be enhanced. Besides, our Organization should not watch from the sidelines efforts to save victims of major natural and man-made disasters.
The destiny of the United Nations is in our hands and that is why we should strive to promote mutual understanding, constructive approach, responsibility and competence.
These are the principles that have been always guiding
The efforts being undertaken at the global level to combat international terrorism are not sufficiently effective. The potential of the United Nations and relevant regional organizations in addressing this most dangerous threat to humanity today should be tapped to a fuller extent. In line with this conviction, last January,
Speaking about the reform of the United Nations, we have to bear in mind that the world is becoming increasingly more diverse. The problems that exist in
Despite all these difficulties and challenges, over the sixty years of its history, the United Nations has established itself in the international community as a universal organization that has no alternative. In the final analysis, we are the United Nations, and we alone determine the future of this Organization. Every country - big, medium-sized or small - has the right and the capacity to make its contribution toward the attainment of the goals set by the United Nations.
Having firmly embarked on the path of social and economic reforms,
My country is a universally recognized leader in
Statement
by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the
H.E. Mr. Kassymzhomart Tokaev
during the general debate at the sixtieth session
of the United Nations General Assembly
New York, 18 September 2005
Mr. President,
Mr. Secretary-General,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We can safely claim that the United Nations Summit that has just been concluded, will have far-reaching implications for our Organization. Its outcome has laid the ground for the most radical reforms in the entire history of the United Nation. Effective response by the family of nations to global challenges and threats is the ultimate goal of these reforms.
Mr. President,
As a matter of principle,
Kazakhstan is committed to its undertakings with regard to timely and effective attainment of the MDGs. Recently published United Nations Millennium Development Goals Report in Kazakhstan reveals that, as a result of successful reforms, my country is close to reaching important targets in that area.
Today,
We commend the United Nations and its specialized agencies for their efforts to assist our country in addressing the effects of environmental disasters in the area of the Aral Sea and in the
International trade is an important factor of development. Accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) is a priority task for
In 2003,
The integration of
Mr. President,
Since the early years of its independence,
The global security system is serious crisis today. The 2005 NPT Review Conference has failed to set up a balanced and comprehensive mechanism that would facilitate the strengthening of the international non-proliferation regime and complete elimination of nuclear weapons. Even more disturbing is the lack of clear recommendations on non-proliferation and disarmament in the outcome document of the Summit.
We believe that it is necessary to put in place a mechanism of international sanctions against states that violate both the NPT Treaty and the non-proliferation regime in general. Otherwise, we will not be able to prevent the continued spread of nuclear weapons around the world.
Our country calls for the establishment and enhancement of controls over nuclear, chemical and biological materials and their production technologies in order to prevent terrorists from getting hold of deadly weapons. Kazakhstan recognizes the special role of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The country’s entire nuclear activity is being carried out in accordance with its standards and under its control. It is time to establish similar effective bodies within the framework of the international conventions on chemical and biological weapons.
The international community should not relax efforts to combat illegal trafficking in conventional arms. According to the United Nations, some 500 million small arms and light weapons are in circulation all over the world. We share the view of the Secretary-General, who compared small arms with weapons of mass destruction since year after year they kill hundreds of thousands of people all over the world, thus fostering the culture of violence and terror and trampling human rights.
Mr. President,
Kazakhstan categorically condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and considers it to be the most dangerous threat in today’s world.
We are convinced that economic and social underdevelopment, poverty and misery breed international terrorism. That is why speedy economic advancement of poor countries is a priority task. Yet the ideology of terrorism is a factor of no lesser importance. It is extremely dangerous that young people are increasingly being sucked into the ideological orbit of international terrorism.
Fighting terrorism is a mission of paramount importance. For that reason, close attention should be paid to the efforts to prevent recruitment for terrorist operations.
In this context, the international community must take urgent and practical steps to curb continuous drug trafficking across Central Asia. We can not but be seriously concerned by the situation in Afghanistan. Kazakhstan appreciates cooperation with the UN Office on drugs and crime.
Enhanced regional cooperation in the struggle against international terrorism is also important. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization sets a positive example in this regard.
Kazakhstan believes that international cooperation in fighting terrorism should be pursued in strict compliance with norms of international law. We support further universalization and enhancement of anti-terrorist treaty mechanisms. The signing by Kazakhstan of the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism is a practical reaffirmation of that position. We are looking forward to an early completion of a comprehensive convention against international terrorism.
At the same time, joint practical actions to curb that evil represent a key element of counter-terrorism activities by the international community.
Mr. President,
International peacekeeping operations, conducted under the umbrella of the United Nations, remain an effective tool to prevent and settle crises and to ensure global and regional stability.
The lack of an effective and comprehensive mechanism to address the root causes of destructive conflicts is a serious problem of peacekeeping. Preventive action and post-conflict peacebuilding constitute important elements of a comprehensive response by the United Nations to emerging crisis situations.
For Kazakhstan, a proposed Peacebuilding Commission is a step in the right direction. As its main mission, it should strive to avert the recurrence of situations when the lack of a peacebuilding strategy results in the escalation of internal conflicts and, ultimately, in states further losing their capacity to perform, in an effective and responsible way, their sovereign functions.
Our country is actively working on issues related to the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA). We treat it as an important and useful forum for the exchange of views on security issues in the Asian region. It is encouraging to see that the CICA process is gaining momentum and has already become an important factor of today’s international relations.
Mr. President,
Kazakhstan believes that the rule of law should play a leading role in international affairs today. Ignoring this principle is one of the main threats to peace and security.
Continuing its consistent efforts to accede to international treaties concluded within the framework of the United Nations and to implement their provisions Kazakhstan intends to ensure strict compliance with the rule of law both at the national and international level.
We closely link our country’s development to building a democratic society based on respect for rights and freedoms of every individual. Kazakhstan supports the strengthening of democratic institutions and human rights mechanisms of the United Nations designed to promote rights and freedoms of citizens and ensure compliance with the principles of non-interference and sovereign equality of states.
Mr. President,
Kazakhstan supports efforts to carry out a comprehensive reform of the United Nations encompassing all its principle organs.
We strongly believe that priority attention should be paid to the General Assembly as the main deliberative, decision-making and representative body of our Organization.
Such a sensitive issue as the reform of the Security Council should be resolved on the basis of a broad international agreement. We are convinced that the enlargement of the Security Council in accordance with the principle of equitable geographical representation and taking into account the contribution of states concerned toward the development of world economy and global security serves the interests of many states and will facilitate a comprehensive reform of the United Nation.
The United Nations needs to improve collaboration with regional organizations that make an important contribution to the collective security system. Kazakhstan has repeatedly proposed to create a standing body, under the Secretary-General, which would assume coordination of cooperation between regional arrangements. In this context, we welcome the establishment of a Standing Committee on Regional Organizations.
We in Kazakhstan are convinced that in the 21st century consolidation of peace and security is increasingly dependent on the development of a dialogue and interaction between peoples of different faiths, cultures and civilizations. An inter-faith dialogue is an integral part of the efforts to promote the culture of peace and a dialogue between civilizations and to advance common values reflected in the Millennium Declaration.
In this context, Kazakhstan is grateful to the international community for its support of our country’s actions to promote an inter-faith dialogue. The United Nations has recognized Kazakhstan’s positive role in this area by adopting a relevant General Assembly resolution.
* * *
Mr. President,
As demonstrated by the past 60 years, the United Nations was, still is and - I am sure – will continue to be a link between our countries and peoples. The United Nations will not allow our planet to slide into chaos and unrest. It is within our power to strengthen this link. Kazakhstan expresses confidence that the agreements reflected in the outcome document of the historic Summit will serve the cause of bringing the nations together in the face of existing challenges and threats, ensure security, welfare and dignity of our peoples and strengthen the Organization itself for the sake of its noble goals.
I thank you, Mr. President.
OPENING REMARKS
by H.E. Mr. Kassymzhomart Tokaev, Minister of Foreign Affairs
of the Republic of Kazakhstan
at Asia Society’s International Business Conference
(June 15, 2005)
Dear Mr. Richard Holbrooke,
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen!
It’s a great honour and privilege for me to address this distinguished audience and welcome you all in Almaty.
Let me at the very outset to say how we greatly appreciate the idea of the United States Asia Society to hold its conference in Kazakhstan to exchange views on some acute problems of the economic development as well as the main aspects of the foreign policy of my country.
Yesterday evening, President Nursultan Nazarbayev addressing the participants of this Conference outlined all major points and principles of both internal and external policy of Kazakhstan. As Minister, I have little to add to this comprehensive overview. However, taking this opportunity, I would like to share with you my views on some acute issues that are still on our agenda. Those issues need to be taken into account and properly addressed as a matter of critical importance.
First. Despite all concerns and doubts expressed by well-known politicians in the beginning of 90’s last century about the future of Kazakhstan, as a sovereign state, this country emerged as one of the most successful states not only among post-soviet but post-socialist countries as well.
Why all this happened? The answer is: because of the strong political will of the President and his adamant supporters to accomplish this unique mission. It happened because of our strong determination to pursue liberal reforms, first of all in the economic area, to build a solid basis for democracy and civil institutions.
Second. Our firm commitment to the more secure world. Kazakhstan made a crucial decision to renounce its nuclear arsenal and to accede to two major treaties – NPT and CTBT. Unfortunately, until now, there has been no unified and fare approach in the international community to the most pressing issues of non nuclear proliferation. Nuclear weapons have become a subject of alleged possession by non-state actors and terrorists. We, in Kazakhstan, strongly believe that there must be no bargaining on the issues of nuclear non-proliferation. There must be no excuse for nuclear weapons trade. There must be no mercy for the countries engaged in production or sales of nuclear weapons. There must be no differentiation for the so called “good” and “bad” countries as far as nuclear proliferation is concerned.
Third. Building up stable and predictable relationship with immediate neighbours, first of all, Russia, China and Central Asian countries, including Uzbekistan. It was not an easy task given the fact that we had no experience in conducting international relations, specifically with big powers. In this respect, the historic importance of demarcation of the borders with all neighbouring countries has to be underscored since Kazakhstan for the first time in its history has legally fixed its 14 thousand km. long border, established a legal framework for relationship with those countries thus significantly reducing any challenge to our security.
Fourth. From the very beginning of our independence we have been relying upon the support of the United States of America. We shall always keep in our historic memory the undeniable fact that it was the US Government which in fact underwrote, politically and legally, Kazakhstan’s sovereignty.
Therefore, despite the fact we had some reservations regarding the production of Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq, we, nevertheless, made a difficult decision to send our military contingent to this country to express our solidarity and support of the US struggle to build democracy and civil society in Iraq.
We also believe that the time has come to put aside the international debate on the legitimacy of the military operation in Iraq and to join our efforts to make this country a success story in creating democracy in this region.
We greatly appreciate the fact that it is the United States which made fifty percent of all our foreign investments. On our side, we stand ready to legally and politically protect financial and economic interests of the United States in Kazakhstan. We strongly believe in sanctity of contracts with major American companies and will not change this position in any circumstances.
However, our commitment to the cooperation with the United States is not driven by dollars only; we view our ties with the United States in much broader context. For that reason we joined without any preconditions the antiterrorist coalition and opened our space to the US military aircrafts involved in the operations in Afghanistan. We have close contacts with the US relevant agencies dealing with security and other sensitive issues.
We appreciate the consistent dialogue with the United States Government and civil institutions on the issues of democracy-building in our country. We need good advice and guidance, we need support and understanding.
Fifth. Despite the fact that Kazakhstan has never known traditions of Western style democracy, the civil society building in our country has become an irreversible process. The main accomplishment is that democracy has already taken root in Kazakhstan and can not be stopped by anyone. Although there are certain reservations and concerns in the West about democracy in our country, Kazakhstan is still making a gradual progress in this area surpassing all the neighbouring countries.
Meanwhile, the international community should clearly understand that democracy-building is a very challenging process for us given the existing geopolitical surrounding. We are all aware of what is happening in all major neighbouring countries. We are aware about their political trends that might have a direct impact on our political and economic stability. I am not going to exaggerate the role of external factors, I don’t support those who argue on the so called “export of democracy”, but we have to admit that while taking up an obligation to democracy-building Kazakhstan is facing a serious challenge to its stability and safety.
Despite all the difficulties and complicated circumstances our commitment to the political reforms and democracy will remain unchangeable.
Sixth. Kazakhstan wants the regional cooperation to be really developed and strengthened. It is a difficult process bearing in mind the existing discrepancies in
We are very much hopeful that trade and economic cooperation in Central Asia will become a serious factor of regional stability and security. Kazakhstan is actively involved in promoting close cooperation and bridging the differences between the states of the region. Central Asia itself is a big market. Once consolidated, it could create good opportunities for attracting huge investments. Central Asia has every reason to become a vibrant society, an active player in the international trade. In this respect, we believe that regional organizations such as the Organization of Central Asian Cooperation and Shanghai Cooperation Organization may give a strong impetus to the regional cooperation. We support the dialogue between Central Asia and Japan and wish to be actively involved in this process. We also value the framework agreements signed between the USA and Central Asian governments on regional cooperation.
Seventh. Kazakhstan insists on reasonable solution of the legal status of the Caspian Sea. We are strongly convinced that this complicated issue has to be solved strictly in accordance with the international law. We look forward to signing a multilateral Convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea as soon as its possible, and stand ready to continue negotiations among five littoral countries as well as pursue bilateral talks including those with Iran. We also believe that the Caspian Sea must be the sea of friendship, cooperation and dialogue, the Caspian region must be free from rivalry and arms race. Kazakhstan attaches special importance to addressing ecological problems that unfortunately do exist in that region and that might have a negative impact on the future of the sea.
Eighth. From our point of view, drastic measures should be taken to renew the CIS to make the Commonwealth more adequately respond to new threats and challenges. This Organization needs to be reformed, otherwise it will fail to meet up expectations of the people who used to live together in the same state for decades. Specifically, new independent countries need more cooperation in the humanitarian and cultural areas, they need open borders and free trade. It is a matter of big concern that there are problematic issues between certain countries of the CIS that have not been solved yet. We expect the upcoming Summit of the Commonwealth in August this year to adopt crucial decisions on the reforms. We also believe that various groups and organizations that have been established in the CIS might and should closely cooperate and interact to address common problems, to pursue common objectives. In this respect we value major principles and goals of GUAM, the organization which includes Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova.
In conclusion, I wish to express my sincere hope that this Conference will produce tangible results in promoting dialogue with the United States’ intellectual community on the wide-range issues concerning attraction of investment and the role of my country in Central Asia and in the world.
Once again, I welcome Richard Holbrooke, an outstanding and skillful diplomat who played a crucial role in building peace and security in
Thank for your attention.