Uzbekistan, 2011

Allow me at the outset to extend my greetings to all

those who are participating in the work of the General

Assembly at its sixty-sixth session and to wish them

every success in their endeavours. It gives me great

pleasure to congratulate the Secretary-General, His

Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-moon, on his reappointment to

that high post for a second term. I also wish to

congratulate Mr. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser on his

election to the post of President of the General

Assembly at the sixty-sixth session, and wish him

fruitful work.

In 2011, Uzbekistan has been celebrating a

landmark date in its modern history — the twentieth

anniversary of independence. Only 20 years have

passed since the Republic of Uzbekistan became an

independent State and joined the ranks of the fully

fledged Members of the United Nations, having gained

the right to decide and build on its own present and

future, but over that period Uzbekistan has made

significant progress in building an independent State,

developing the national economy and modernizing the

country.

During those years, the Republic of Uzbekistan

has transformed itself from a sluggish raw materials-

based economy, with a destructive monoculture of

cotton, an underdeveloped industrial and social

infrastructure and low-per-capita consumption, into a

modern country with a steadily developing economy.

The following evidence clearly testifies to the

fact that, over the past 20 years of independent

development, Uzbekistan’s economy has grown by a

factor of 3.5 and the population’s total income has

increased by a factor of 20. Despite the negative

impact of the ongoing global financial and economic

crisis, Uzbekistan continues to develop at a steady

pace. Over the past five years, the growth in gross

domestic product (GDP) has averaged 8.5 per cent.

This year, it is expected that that level will be

maintained.

Striking achievements have been made in

implementing the goals set out in the Millennium

Declaration. During the years of independence, State

expenditure in the social sector has increased more

than fivefold. About 60 per cent of the annual budget is

devoted to the development of health care, education,

communal services, social welfare and other sectors.

Some 82.5 per cent of the population has access to

clean drinking water and 83.5 per cent to natural gas.

I would like to underscore in particular the huge

role and significance in all those changes of education

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and people’s increasing awareness. Annual expenditure

on education in Uzbekistan amounts to 10 to 12 per

cent of GDP, whereas that indicator worldwide does

not exceed 3 to 5 per cent. An exceptional national

programme to train skilled personnel and workers has

been launched. From 2009, a mandatory 12-year

education programme was introduced. Uzbekistan has

set up more than 1,600 modern vocational colleges and

high schools.

Such indicators, which are not often seen across

the world, clearly affirm that our most important goal

is ensure the quality of life and protect the interests of

citizens. The Uzbek model for the country’s

democratization and transition to a socially oriented

market economy, adopted in the early years of our

independence, has served as the basis for those

achievements.

Our country is steadily progressing towards

achieving the goal we have set ourselves, namely, to

join the ranks of the modern, developed and

democratic States and to ensure for its people a high

standard of living and a dignified place in the world

community.

Today, we have every reason to affirm that we

have achieved the main goal, that is, the country’s

irreversible and steady reform and democratization.

The conceptual framework for further deepening the

democratic reforms and establishing civil society in the

country, developed by the President of Uzbekistan,

Islam Karimov, in November 2010, provides for the

further development and strengthening of Uzbekistan’s

long-term sustainable development model. The

conceptual framework calls for further democratization

of State authority and governance, reforming the

judicial system, establishing and developing civil

society institutions, ensuring freedom of speech and

information, developing the electoral law, further

deepening market reform and liberalizing the economy.

In assessing the state of affairs in Central Asia, it

is important to note that, given its geopolitical and

geostrategic significance and the very rich natural

resources, the region continues to be the focus of the

international community’s attention in the context of

the growing threats and challenges to security and

stability in the world.

First, the war that has been under way in

Afghanistan for more than 30 years continues to be the

main destabilizing factor, not only in the region but

also in the entire world. More unfortunately, the

situation remains tense despite all the measures now

being taken by the international community. It is

important to underscore, in particular, that today,

everyone is sure that there is no military solution to the

Afghan problem. Almost all leaders, including those

involved in resolving the Afghan issue and the direct

military command of the coalition forces in

Afghanistan, are of this view.

We firmly believe that the Afghan people

themselves must resolve their country’s problems.

Only through a compromise between the warring

parties with the Afghans themselves being involved in

that process, as well as the socio-economic recovery of

Afghanistan with the help of the international

community, will it be possible to find a way out of the

current deadlock in Afghanistan’s situation.

President Karimov already stated that at the

NATO Summit in Bucharest in April 2008. We see the

future of Afghanistan as a peaceful and steadily

developing State that poses no threat to neighbouring

countries, such that the people living in the region can

fully enjoy the benefits of friendly, mutually beneficial

and equal relations. Uzbekistan will continue to pursue

a policy of good-neighbourliness and cooperation

towards Afghanistan on a bilateral basis, in accordance

with mutual national interests.

Secondly, the tragic events in Kyrgyzstan in June

2010 posed a serious challenge to peace and stability in

the Central Asian region. More than a year has passed

since those bloody events. However, to date no

political or legal conclusions on all those forces and

specific individuals who ordered, organized and

perpetrated the crimes have been drawn. Until such

investigations are completed and the perpetrators,

irrespective of their nationality, origin or position, are

punished, it is difficult to envisage the restoration of

trust and cooperation between the Uzbek community

and the Kyrgyz.

Thirdly, the socio-economic development not

only of our country, but also of the entire Central Asian

region, is hampered by the ecological catastrophe of

the Aral Sea. In practically the span of one generation,

it has changed from once being one of the most

exceptional and most beautiful seas into a drying and

disappearing pool. Today, the Aral Sea basin faces a

range of ecological, socio-economic and demographic

problems of global consequences. The Secretary-

3 11-51390

General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, himself was convinced of

that while visiting the Aral Sea last year.

In such circumstances, attempts to build huge

hydropower facilities on the upper reaches of the Amu

Darya and Syr Darya rivers are counterproductive and

dangerous, since they pose serious threats to public

safety in terms both of environmental, social and

technical risks and of preserving the volume and

course of the river flow.

In addressing such problems, we proceed on the

premise that any use of transboundary watercourses

must take into account the interests of all States located

in their basins, and should be carried out in accordance

with international law. I refer in particular to the

Convention on the Protection and Use of

Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes

of 17 March 1992 and the Convention on the Law of

the Non-navigational Uses of International Watercourses of

21 May 1997.

We do not ignore the rights of the upstream

countries to develop their hydropower sector. In our

view, this is a very important sector of the economy.

However, it would be safer and more rational to build

cascades of small hydropower plants with the same

total production capacity. Our country’s position is not

only fully consistent with relevant international law

and accepted regulations, but it is also, and most

importantly, derived from them.

In conclusion, Uzbekistan supports the theme

proposed by the President of the General Assembly for

this session’s general debate, namely, “The role of

mediation in the settlement of disputes by peaceful

means”. We fully share his view regarding the

importance of strengthening multilateral machinery so

as to ensure a stable and just world order that is

capable of effectively responding to emerging threats

to regional stability and international security.