Kazakhstan, 2006

First of all, I would

like to congratulate you, Madam, on your election to

your high office and express confidence that, under

your skilful stewardship, the sixty-first session of the

General Assembly will be successful and fruitful.

Last year’s World Summit reaffirmed the role of

the United Nations as an indispensable and universal

forum for taking important action on today’s burning

issues. The Summit’s decision to carry out United

Nations reform, the most radical in its history, is a case

in point. We are now in a position to give a preliminary

assessment of the work in that area. The results,

unfortunately, are mixed.

On the one hand, helpful decisions have been

taken to establish new elective bodies within

the United Nations system — the Peacebuilding

Commission and the Human Rights Council. They

were set up thanks to the intensive efforts of all

delegations, which were able to reach a compromise

through negotiations. On the other hand, the lack of

any progress on the issue of reforming the work of the

General Assembly and the Security Council is

seriously impeding the institutional reform of the

Organization. In our view, further delays in that

process might have a negative impact on the United

06-53323 30

Nations efforts in the areas of international stability,

security and development.

For the delegation of Kazakhstan, the current

session is, in a way, an anniversary session. We are

taking part in the work of this forum for the fifteenth

time. While consistently advancing its national

interests in the international arena, my country is

firmly committed to the purposes and principles of the

United Nations Charter.

The establishment in Asia of a mechanism of

cooperation to enhance regional security and stability,

known as the Conference on Interaction and

Confidence-building Measures in Asia (CICA), was

one of Kazakhstan’s first initiatives, put forward from

this rostrum in 1992. We can safely claim that the

initiative has proved its viability and has become an

important factor of international relations at this

juncture, as evidenced by the outcome of the second

CICA Summit, held in Kazakhstan last June. The

documents adopted by CICA, such as the Catalogue of

Confidence-building Measures and the Agreement on

the Establishment of the CICA Secretariat, have

created propitious conditions for regional cooperation

and multilateral dialogue in Asia.

Kazakhstan has consistently called for an

enhanced nuclear-weapons non-proliferation regime.

That position is rooted in the sufferings of our people,

who are still reeling from the negative effects of

nuclear explosions at the Semipalatinsk nuclear testing

ground, shut down exactly 15 years ago by decree of

President Nursultan Nazarbayev. The position was

bolstered by the historic decision of my country to

voluntarily renounce its nuclear arsenal, which used to

be the fourth largest in the world.

We want that step to serve as a commendable

example in the light of the ongoing large-scale crisis

that has struck the global security system. Regrettably,

the lack of any result at the last Review Conference of

the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of

Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and the United Nations

Disarmament Commission remains a major challenge

for the international community.

It is time to make coordinated efforts to overcome

that crisis. The process to that end has already made a

good start. The Treaty on a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone

in Central Asia, signed on 8 September in

Semipalatinsk, is a demonstration of the political will

of five Central Asian States: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,

Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The signing

of that milestone instrument could become a catalyst

for the process of enhancing the NPT. We believe that

tangible progress in that area is possible if all Member

States comply with their obligations regarding nuclear

disarmament and the vertical and horizontal

proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The

Central Asian States are ready to continue

consultations with the permanent members of the

Security Council on the issue of that Treaty’s entry into

force.

In our view, the States concerned should strictly

comply with their commitment to a moratorium on

nuclear test explosions and work to ensure the entry

into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban

Treaty. All peaceful nuclear programmes should be

carried out in a transparent manner under the control of

the International Atomic Energy Agency.

It is a matter of great concern that the crisis has

extended not only to strategic, but also to conventional

weapons. Regrettably, Member States have so far failed

to devise common approaches to the Programme of

Action in that area. We have to step up efforts to

tighten national export-control mechanisms. I refer

first and foremost to dual-use materials and

technologies, as well as to missiles and the means of

delivery of weapons of mass destruction, with full and

strict compliance with the provisions of the Security

Council resolution adopted in 2004.

The possibility of weapons of mass destruction

falling into the hands of terrorists is a matter of grave

concern. To prevent such a scenario, we have to push

for the accession of all United Nations Member States

to the International Convention for the Suppression of

Acts of Nuclear Terrorism.

We live in a world where tensions between States

and armed conflicts are still very much a part of

everyday life. The crisis in Lebanon has highlighted

yet again the need to use effectively the United Nations

capacity to maintain international peace and security.

Since the early days of the conflict, Kazakhstan has

called for the strengthening of the Security Council’s

role in the settlement of that crisis.

The deployment of a strengthened contingent of

United Nations peacekeepers in the conflict zone was

the only viable solution to that large-scale crisis.

Regrettably, the lack of an effective mechanism to

prevent the break-up and spread of armed conflicts

31 06-53323

remains a serious problem. In our view, the

establishment of a United Nations preventive

diplomacy and conflict prevention centre in Central

Asia remains a relevant proposition. That Centre would

focus on the provision of advice and expertise to the

countries of the region, taking into account their

national interests and security considerations.

It is vitally important to identify how the belated

adoption of the Security Council resolution on

Lebanon is consistent with the process of United

Nations reform. The inefficiency of the institutional

system of the United Nations and the lack of broad

understanding among Member States negatively affect

global and regional stability and security.

Kazakhstan has decided to run for a seat on the

Economic and Social Council. We express our

appreciation to those Member States that have

supported our nomination. If elected, we intend

actively to participate in the work of that important

United Nations organ on all substantive items on its

agenda.

Speaking from this high rostrum, I feel obliged to

express serious concern about the resurgence of

international terrorism. Recent explosions in Iraq and

Turkey and the aborted London terror plot indicate that

this global threat is clearly growing. It is impossible to

counter the threat without consolidated efforts on the

part of the entire international community to speed up

the implementation of relevant counter-terrorism

conventions and Security Council resolutions. We have

to strengthen cooperation between Member States at

the United Nations. The early conclusion of a

comprehensive convention on international terrorism is

very much on our agenda.

With illegal routes for the delivery of Afghan

drugs from Asia to Europe running through its territory,

Kazakhstan makes every effort to address that threat,

yet it is clear that no country in the world can address

it effectively on its own. The fight will be effective

only if we join our efforts and mobilize the resources

of the United Nations and its specialized agencies. It is

precisely for that reason that Kazakhstan has supported

the United Nations initiative to set up in Kazakhstan a

Central Asian regional information and coordination

centre to fight illegal drug trafficking.

We welcome the results of the General

Assembly’s High-level Dialogue on International

Migration and Development. We believe that those

discussions have helped to lay the groundwork for a

regular dialogue on that issue among all parties

concerned. As a country of destination, transit and

origin for migration, Kazakhstan is willing to take an

active part in the search for solutions to the problems

of illegal migration, labour migration and the

protection of the rights of migrants.

In our view, development issues should remain

the focus of attention of the international community.

The timely and effective achievement of the

Millennium Development Goals will grow in

importance as we approach 2015. Kazakhstan supports

decisions on development issues taken at major

international conferences and United Nations summits,

and calls for their timely and effective implementation.

As the largest landlocked country, Kazakhstan

urges the international community — above all the

developed countries — to make every effort to meet

the needs of the least developed and developing

landlocked countries.

The structural reforms carried out since its

independence have totally transformed Kazakhstan.

Today, it is one of the most dynamic States of the

world and has set ambitious goals to promote further

development. The average growth of our gross

domestic product over the past five years is 10 per

cent. The World Bank has included Kazakhstan in the

top 20 most attractive economies for investment. The

Government works to ensure that Kazakhstan will join

the ranks of the most competitive economies. To reach

that target, we have developed an innovative industrial

economic development programme and finance

relevant projects through a special national fund. All

the basic development institutions have been

established. Negotiations on Kazakhstan’s admission to

the World Trade Organization are in their final stages.

Programmes are being implemented to use the

transport and transit capacity of the country, and large-

scale projects are being carried out to integrate the

country’s transportation infrastructure into the Eurasian

transportation system.

Kazakhstan renews its commitment to the

Millennium Development Goals. The United Nations

Development Programme report issued on the eve of

the 2005 World Summit demonstrates that our country

has made great strides in that area.

As a major exporter of energy resources,

Kazakhstan will continue to pursue its policy to ensure

06-53323 32

their delivery to world markets through multiple

routes. With the growing economy, the Government is

consistently increasing social spending, primarily in

health care, education, employment and other areas.

Our efforts have made it possible for the World Bank to

rank Kazakhstan as a successful State with a

dynamically growing economy.

We pay close attention to the promotion of

democracy, the building of civil society and the

enhancement of inter-ethnic and inter-faith accord

within the country. Our accomplishments are evident.

My country, home to more than 100 ethnic groups and

practically all religions, is a model of tolerance, accord

and stability.

It is no accident that Kazakhstan has hosted a

forum of leaders of world and traditional religions. The

second congress has just completed its deliberations in

Astana, at which religious leaders adopted a

declaration calling for an active dialogue among

religions. We cannot allow the use of religious

differences as an instrument of hatred and strife, and

we have to save humanity from a global clash of

religions and cultures. The congress has become

Kazakhstan’s contribution to global dialogue among

religions.

Kazakhstan carries out a balanced foreign policy

based on our long-term national interests and aimed at

the development of friendly ties with neighbouring

countries and all interested countries of the world.

As the current Chair of the Commonwealth of

Independent States, my country has devised a plan to

reform that organization in order to enhance its

capacity. Kazakhstan has been working actively in the

Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Eurasian

Economic Community and supports the Collective

Security Treaty Organization.

Ahead of the other post-Soviet countries in many

areas, Kazakhstan has always assumed responsibility

for the implementation of international initiatives,

whether it be the decision to shut down the

Semipalatinsk nuclear testing ground, or to voluntarily

renounce nuclear weapons, or its initiatives to convene

a regional security forum in Asia, or to hold a congress

of leaders of world and traditional religions or to host

the first global conference on transit-transport

cooperation or to host a special meeting of the Security

Council Counter-Terrorism Committee. In 2007,

Kazakhstan will host the sixty-third session of the

United Nations Economic and Social Commission for

Asia and the Pacific.

We express our appreciation to all States that

have supported Kazakhstan’s candidature for the

chairmanship of the Organization for Security and

Cooperation in Europe in 2009. Kazakhstan will

continue to be active on all key items of the global

agenda.

In conclusion, I would like to quote a popular

saying in my country: “Nothing can be farther than

yesterday and nothing can be closer than tomorrow”. A

year ago, at the World Summit, we agreed to take

action to reform the United Nations. We should not

forget that humanity pins its hopes for a better future

on the United Nations as an indispensable

Organization. It is high time to take specific and

effective action to raise the prestige of our

Organization.