Armenia, 1997

I begin by

congratulating Mr. Hennadiy Udovenko on his election as

President of the General Assembly at its fifty-second

session. I am confident that the skills and vast experience

he has acquired throughout his distinguished diplomatic

career will provide the guidance we need to guarantee the

successful outcome of the session.

I must also recall the remarkable diligence of his

predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Razali Ismail, and his

valuable contribution to the work of the fifty-first regular

session and the nineteenth special session of the General

Assembly.

As the twentieth century comes to an end, it is

evident that all countries in the world, advanced,

developing and transitional, will be substantially affected

by globalization. Further specialization, the widening of

markets through trade, a broader division of labour and a

more efficient and more diversified allocation of financial

resources should increase overall productivity and raise

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living standards. However, no country will benefit from this

trend spontaneously or automatically. The major tasks that

Governments face today are development and the pursuit of

sound policies and appropriate structural adjustments to

meet the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities

of globalization.

Economic reforms, which Armenia began immediately

after its declaration of independence, have changed all key

sectors of the economy, particularly agriculture, enterprises,

prices and wages, the banking industry and the fiscal,

foreign trade and exchange systems. Concurrently, the

country began the institution of secure property rights and

a judiciary strong enough to protect them.

After a devastating fall in real output from 1991

through 1994, macroeconomic and structural reforms,

combined with privatization, have stabilized the country's

economy while bringing down inflation, and allowed

Armenia to achieve significant growth in 1996. Armenia's

gross domestic product, which dropped 25.3 per cent on

average from 1991 to 1993, has turned around and has

averaged 6.3 per cent annual growth since then. This is

despite a disastrous earthquake in 1988, the conflict

between Nagorny Karabakh and Azerbaijan, which caused

the inflow of more than 300,000 refugees, and continuing

problems in obtaining stable energy and industrial supplies

because of a blockade imposed by neighbouring Azerbaijan.

The drastic changes were coincident with the adoption

of a medium-term macroeconomic reform programme

supported by the World Bank and the International

Monetary Fund. The major objectives for the 1997 period

are: to maintain a real annual growth rate in gross domestic

product of about 6 per cent; to continue curbing the

inflation rate for the whole year and keeping it under 10

per cent; and to augment the level of gross foreign

exchange reserves to the equivalent of 2.8 months of

imports.

Also, the Government of Armenia will go on to take

several measures during the programme period aimed at

continuing to refine the targeting of social safety-net

benefits to alleviate a sharp decrease in average

consumption levels and improve income distribution.

For Armenia and countries with economies in

transition as a whole, the move towards world market

prices brought severely deteriorated terms of trade. The

introduction of currency convertibility and a notable

increase in external borrowing began to cause frequent

unsustainable external debt positions. The resources which

are urgently required to modernize the industrial structure

to internationally competitive levels and to improve the

general infrastructure immensely exceed domestic saving

capacities. This situation underlines the necessity of

addressing more thoroughly the needs of countries in

transition by the international donor community, though

this should not cause a decrease in official development

assistance flows to the developing world.

In this context, Armenia welcomes the adoption of

the Agenda for Development by the General Assembly

earlier this year as one of the major documents which

should be among the guidelines for actions of the United

Nations system and affiliated institutions to strengthen

international cooperation for development. We also

support the appraisal of conditions in Africa, least

developed countries, small island developing States and

landlocked developing countries as “Critical situations and

special problems” within the Agenda for Development,

and we hope that the post-cold-war international

community will pay more attention to these issues of

prime concern.

The interaction between the United Nations and

other multilateral development institutions, including the

Bretton Woods institutions and the World Trade

Organization, should be intensified, involving the field

level in particular. Joint efforts could be concentrated

especially on those areas where private investors need

encouragement, and where without such general

institutional support they would hesitate to commit long-

term capital. Proper intergovernmental follow-up and

implementation of the corresponding General Assembly

and Economic and Social Council resolutions and

decisions are capable of facilitating this process.

Sustainable development and related environmental

issues are other areas of strategic importance where the

United Nations must further strengthen its credibility. We

acknowledge the outcome of the nineteenth special

session of the General Assembly for the purpose of an

overall review and appraisal of the implementation of

Agenda 21 as an important step to enhance the

implementation of the major international global and

regional environmental agreements.

Economic and democratic reforms are

complementary and heavily interdependent. Political and

economic freedom means more predictable, more

transparent, more constitutional, less discriminatory and

less corruption-prone law-making and enforcement.

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We recognize democracy and respect for human rights,

universal access to knowledge and information and a high

level of public awareness as preconditions for sustainable

social development. We welcome the Secretary-General's

efforts to strengthen the role of human rights within the

United Nations system.

Armenia considers self-determination to be an

inalienable human right. In this respect, the Nagorny

Karabakh conflict continues to occupy the Government of

Armenia. Despite concentrated negotiations of the past

several years, the maintenance of a ceasefire for more than

three years, and the intensified efforts of the international

community, the Nagorny Karabakh peace process continues

to suffer from a lack of serious progress. The Organization

for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Lisbon

Summit of December 1996, which was expected to reflect

on the peace process, to consolidate the ceasefire and to

provide impetus for a possible breakthrough this year, failed

to serve its intended purpose. Instead, by attempting to

predetermine the final status of Nagorny Karabakh, it

unnecessarily stiffened Azerbaijan's position and minimized

the possibility of a mutually acceptable compromise

solution. We believe that the final status of Nagorny

Karabakh should be negotiated between the parties directly

involved and not dictated by outside interested parties.

Armenia appreciates the most recent efforts of the

Minsk Group Co-Chairmen to reach a compromise solution,

which were also manifested in the Denver statement of the

Presidents of the three co-chairing countries. Armenia has

provided a detailed response to the proposal of the Minsk

Group Co-Chairmen, insisting on securing commonly

recognized freedoms for the Nagorny Karabakh population,

as well as guaranteeing their security so that their physical

existence and control over their territory and destiny are

never threatened.

Armenia believes that a resolution acceptable to all

parties involved is key to establishing durable peace and

stability in the region and to stimulating economic growth

and prosperity in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Nagorny

Karabakh. My country remains committed to a negotiated

settlement of the conflict and will continue to engage

constructively in the peace process. However, we urge

Azerbaijan to negotiate directly with the elected officials of

Nagorny Karabakh, for we strongly believe that no final

solution can be achieved without Karabakh's direct

participation in the deliberations on its own political status.

The Republic of Armenia has been actively

participating in the fields of arms control and disarmament.

We reaffirm our commitment to full implementation of

the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons

(NPT) objectives. To that end, Armenia welcomes the

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) programme

on strengthening the effectiveness and improving the

efficiency of the safeguards system. We have already

expressed our readiness to conclude a supplementary

protocol to the safeguards agreement with the IAEA.

Last year the overwhelming majority of United

Nations Member States signed the Comprehensive

Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. We join the international

community in calling upon all States to sign and ratify

this Treaty to ensure its early entry into force.

The Chemical Weapons Convention was another

historic accomplishment in the field of global

disarmament. As a founding member of the Organization

for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Armenia will

advocate the full and effective implementation of the

Convention.

Armenia also supports the complementary efforts —

through the Ottawa process — aimed at achieving a

complete ban on anti-personnel landmines. We realize the

importance of developing technological solutions to mine

detection and clearance, and we fully support programmes

on assistance to mine victims.

The reform of the Security Council should become

another important component of the overall reform within

the United Nations. Armenia supports the current

discussions on improving the representative character of

the Security Council. We are in favour of expansion in

both categories, permanent and non-permanent. However,

while strengthening the capacity of the Council, such an

increase should also safeguard its decision-making

efficiency. We believe that five new seats should be

allocated as permanent for the Security Council to better

reflect present political and economic realities. This

arrangement should include improved representation for

the countries of Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the

Caribbean. We also support the desire of Germany and

Japan to acquire the status of permanent members of the

Security Council.

As regards the non-permanent seats, it is our view

that the expansion should take into account the legitimate

interests of the Eastern European Group, whose

membership has more than doubled in recent years.

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The Government of Armenia welcomes the proposals

by the Secretary-General for the reform of the United

Nations. We fully support his commendable efforts to refine

the structure of this Organization and to streamline the

operations of its system, to make it more flexible and

capable of adequate, timely responses to the challenges of

today's world. These proposals are a sound basis for

immediate actions, further negotiations and deliberations by

the General Assembly. There is a strong need to consolidate

the ongoing attempts of the United Nations system and

Member States to alter and develop the Organization. At

the same time, we should avoid reducing the evaluation of

these reforms to a purely financial or managerial approach.

Reform must enable the United Nations to attain more

effectively the mandates and priorities enshrined in the

Charter.

In conclusion, let me assure the Assembly that

Armenia, keenly aware of the importance of an effective

and active United Nations, is committed to contributing its

share in the strengthening of this Organization.