President Sadyr Japarov held talks with UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who arrived in Kyrgyzstan on an official visit, at the state residence in Cholpon-Ata.
During the meeting, the President of Kyrgyzstan said that the activities of the UN are aimed at maintaining peace and prosperity for all humanity on the planet. The UN addresses global socio-economic and climate issues. The President expressed his support for the initiative to hold the UN General Assembly Summit, which will take place in New York in September.
Kyrgyzstan is actively implementing the UN's sustainable development goals, which have become the basis of the country's state policy and are included in the long-term national development strategy, Japarov said. In particular, this includes the UN Framework Program for Cooperation in Sustainable Development in the Kyrgyz Republic for 2023-2027 and the two-year joint action plan. Comprehensive national mechanisms for financing sustainable development goals have been adopted, and a high-level council for their implementation has been established. Kyrgyzstan has made significant progress in this direction and ranks 45th among the 166 UN member states.
Kyrgyzstan has set an ambitious goal to enter the top 30 countries by 2030, Japarov told the guest.
The President emphasized that today Kyrgyzstan is one of the recognized leaders in the region's hydropower market and has great potential in this area. Investments have been attracted to the economy, large enterprises have opened, and new regional projects in the energy and transport sectors have begun.
He also noted the near-term plans for implementing major projects such as CASA-1000, which aims to connect the Central Asian energy systems with South Asia, and the construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway, which will facilitate rapid and efficient trade between the participating countries and stimulate economic growth.
Japarov also touched on border issues, which are now legally fully resolved in the part of the Kyrgyz-Uzbek state border. He noted that active work is underway to resolve issues on the state border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan and stressed that his country always adheres to peaceful and diplomatic solutions to issues.
Speaking about debt-for-development swaps, Japarov said that the issue of restructuring the country's external public debt using debt-for-green projects mechanisms is being proposed for consideration.
President Japarov confirmed the country's commitment to further close partnership with the UN and all its members to strengthen international peace and security, ensure sustainable development, and protect human rights.
In turn, UN Secretary-General António Guterres thanked President Sadyr Japarov for the warm welcome and particularly emphasized that the Kyrgyz Republic is an example for other countries. The organization is always ready to support the country in all ongoing reforms.
He noted that he had visited Kyrgyzstan before. However, he had not previously noticed such dynamic development in the country.
"Previously, Kyrgyzstan was like a 'sleeping beauty.' Now it is developing and moving forward," the UN head emphasized, adding that the country is implementing sustainable development plans.
According to him, Kyrgyzstan was one of the first to raise the initiative for the development of mountainous regions.
President Japarov thanked António Guterres for visiting Kyrgyzstan and his kind words about the country. After visiting the "Rukh-Ordo" cultural center in the city of Cholpon-Ata, Japarov presented the UN Secretary-General with a Kyrgyz national musical instrument, the komuz.
On the same day, Guterres left for Astana, where he will participate in the SCO summit. President Japarov will also participate in this summit, which will be held on July 3-4, 2024.
CentralasianLIGHT.org
July 2, 2024