A joint statement by the ministers of the SPECA member states was adopted

On April 17, 2023, in Geneva, the delegation of Turkmenistan took part in the ministerial meeting of the countries participating in the United Nations Special Program for the Economies of Central Asia (SPECA), following which a ministerial statement was adopted.

Meeting of Ministers of SPECA Participating States

17 April 2023

Geneva, Switzerland

                                                                                                              Ministerial Statement

 

1. We, the Ministers/the Head of delegations of SPECA participating-States – Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, gathered in Geneva on April 17 of 2023 on the margins of the 70^th Session of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) for a high-level dialogue with heads of the United Nations regional commissions, Permanent Missions of the United Nations Member-States, international organizations, specialized agencies and non-governmental organizations to mark the 25^th anniversary of establishment of SPECA and to advance our common interests in diversification of transit routes, trade and transport facilitation, as well as digitalization and green transformation in Central Asia and beyond.

2. We extend our sincere gratitude to the efforts by the Azerbaijani Chairmanship of SPECA for the excellent organization of the ministerial-level meeting with international partners in Geneva.

3. We welcome the key theme of Azerbaijani Chairmanship for 2023 - “Transforming the SPECA region into a connectivity hub with global outreach” and emphasize the unique role that SPECA can play for harnessing resources for sustainable and resilient development in Central Asia.

4. We express our thanks to the United Nations regional commissions - UNECE and UNESCAP for providing support to the SPECA participating-States efforts to transform SPECA into more effective and impactful platform of regional cooperation and integration.

5. We endorse the proposal to initiate a United Nations General Assembly resolution highlighting the 25^th anniversary of SPECA and encouraging the United Nations Member States, United Nations regional commissions and specialized agencies to continue extending support to efforts of the SPECA participating States.

6. We endorse the initiative to establish a Trust Fund under the United Nations management with a view to mobilize and harness financial support from potential partners for implementing regional assistance projects in SPECA participating States.

7. Based upon a growing shared interest of SPECA participating-States to strengthen digital connectivity along the transit routes, we request the UNECE to develop a Roadmap for a digitalization of multimodal data and document exchange along the trans-Caspian transport corridor using relevant United Nations standards, including through realizing a regional pilot project for SPECA participating-States.

8. As a follow-up to the Geneva ministerial meeting, we welcome the initiative of Azerbaijan to arrange a summit of SPECA participating States.