Latest news with #ProgramofAction
See - Sada Elbalad
a day ago
- Business
- See - Sada Elbalad
Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev Delivers Speech at Third UN Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries
Yara Sameh Distinguished Heads of Delegations! First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to His Excellency Serdar Berdimuhamedov, the President of Turkmenistan, and to Honourable Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, the National Leader of Turkmen people, Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty, for their warm welcome and splendid organization of today's conference. It is indeed symbolic that this forum is taking place in beautiful Avaza, a pearl of the Caspian Sea, in the International Year of Peace and Trust, as proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly at the initiative of Turkmenistan. Uzbekistan highly values and strongly supports Turkmenistan's efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and ensure global and regional stability and prosperity. I would also like to express my deepest gratitude to the UN Secretary-General, Mr. António Guterres, for his personal engagement in promoting the issues of landlocked countries as a priority international issue. We fully support the Avaza Political Declaration and are committed to engage actively in the implementation of the ten-year Program of Action. Distinguished participants! The issues discussed at this conference are of vital importance to all of us. I should mention that our country has access to maritime communications only by crossing the territories of several other countries. In our case, a number of challenges are created due to the fact that the nearest seaports are located almost three thousand kilometers away. They are high tariffs, limited capacity of transport corridors and infrastructure, and dependence on the customs and transit policies of other states. According to the World Bank, the Central Asian region loses up to 2% of its GDP annually due to high transport costs and transit instability. Logistics costs account for up to 60% of the total cost of goods, which is several times higher than the global average. In this regard, developing new reliable transit corridors and logistics infrastructure is essential for sustainable progress in Central Asia. The agenda that brings us together today touches upon a fundamental issue – the issue of justice. It is about having the opportunity for landlocked countries to participate in the global economy on an equal footing. Solving this problem requires three fundamental conditions. They are modernizing infrastructure as the basis for sustainable growth; strengthening interconnectivity to prevent transit problems; and recognizing the right to development as a key element of global equality. I would like to emphasize that in recent years for this end Uzbekistan has undertaken systematic efforts to develop a modern transport and logistics network with active private-sector involvement. Uzbekistan is demonstrating strong momentum towards greater openness and transparency in logistics. Complex measures are being implemented to facilitate the digitalization of trade and transport processes. Structural economic reforms, trade liberalization and a radical improvement in the investment climate have already yielded tangible results. The competitiveness has increased and innovative development has accelerated. The achievement of a qualitatively new level of trust and partnership in Central Asia has provided a powerful impetus for dynamic transformations. Today, a single transport and logistics space is being established in the region. Comprehensive programs and projects are being implemented to transform Central Asia into a fully-fledged transit hub between East and West, North and South. In recent years, mutual trade volumes have grown 4.5-fold. Investments have doubled and the number of joint ventures has increased fivefold. This year jointly with our partners we have started construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway. Freight traffic on the Uzbekistan-Turkmenistan-Iran-Turkiye transport corridor has increased significantly. Esteemed conference participants! In today's world, it is crucial to have concrete, feasible and institutionally supported solutions to overcome common threats and challenges. In this regard, Uzbekistan proposes the following: First. Coordinated action is needed to expedite the development of international transport corridors and infrastructure. We advocate accelerating the preparation and implementation of the Uzbekistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan railway construction project. Converging this promising corridor with the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway line, which is now under construction, will open up opportunities to form a new trade and economic space, as well as sustainable transport infrastructure, in our vast region. We also prioritize the development of the Middle Corridor. Its full utilization requires, in the first place, a coordinated transit policy, common rules and reasonable tariffs for container transportation. Second. We propose developing a Global Agreement on Transit Guarantees for Landlocked Countries under the auspices of the United Nations. Such mechanism will ensure conditions for fair access to seaports and communications, reduce the risks of cargo transportation and inequality in global logistics. Third. There is a growing demand for flexible investment instruments to finance major infrastructure projects. The Central Asian countries' need for investment in transport infrastructure is estimated at nearly $40 billion per year. To this end, we propose establishing a United Nations-backed Fund for Promotion of Logistical Integration of the landlocked countries. It would be reasonable attracting resources from donor countries, international development institutions and global programs to this Fund. Fourth. We propose developing a Global Vulnerability Index for landlocked countries. The Index would become an effective tool for objective evaluation of the limited transit capabilities of our countries, expansion of international financial and technical programs and effective resource allocation based on the actual situation. Most importantly, this Index must be taken into account in fairly assessing the competitiveness and business environment of our countries. Fifth. We believe it is extremely important to implement the proposal to create in Uzbekistan an Innovation Hub for Agricultural Sector Development. This hub will promote adaptive agricultural technologies, innovative water conservation and food security projects, and the sharing knowledge and best practices. Sixth. In order to develop tangible proposals for jointly addressing common threats, it is important to actively involve leading experts and think tanks from our countries. To this end, we propose holding a series of international forums and roundtable discussions. The agenda for such events could include deep integration of our countries into global production chains; artificial intelligence and digital technologies' rapid development; expanding cross-border investment and supporting start-ups. Uzbekistan is also committed to joining the International Analytical Centre for Landlocked Countries. Distinguished Heads of Delegation! Access to global markets should be equal for all. This is not just an economic necessity. Above all, it is an important factor for sustainable development, trust and cooperation in international relations. I would like to reiterate that Uzbekistan is always open for constructive and long-term partnerships in forming a fair global development architecture. read more Gold prices rise, 21 Karat at EGP 3685 NATO's Role in Israeli-Palestinian Conflict US Expresses 'Strong Opposition' to New Turkish Military Operation in Syria Shoukry Meets Director-General of FAO Lavrov: confrontation bet. nuclear powers must be avoided News Iran Summons French Ambassador over Foreign Minister Remarks News Aboul Gheit Condemns Israeli Escalation in West Bank News Greek PM: Athens Plays Key Role in Improving Energy Security in Region News One Person Injured in Explosion at Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid News Israeli-Linked Hadassah Clinic in Moscow Treats Wounded Iranian IRGC Fighters Arts & Culture "Jurassic World Rebirth" Gets Streaming Date News China Launches Largest Ever Aircraft Carrier News Ayat Khaddoura's Final Video Captures Bombardment of Beit Lahia Business Egyptian Pound Undervalued by 30%, Says Goldman Sachs Videos & Features Tragedy Overshadows MC Alger Championship Celebration: One Fan Dead, 11 Injured After Stadium Fall Lifestyle Get to Know 2025 Eid Al Adha Prayer Times in Egypt Arts & Culture South Korean Actress Kang Seo-ha Dies at 31 after Cancer Battle Arts & Culture Lebanese Media: Fayrouz Collapses after Death of Ziad Rahbani Sports Get to Know 2025 WWE Evolution Results
Al Jazeera
14-04-2025
- Business
- Al Jazeera
The global economy is in turmoil. Now is the time to build a new order
We live in difficult times, and it is challenging to remain optimistic about the future. Climate change threatens human wellbeing and planetary health, and the window to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all is rapidly closing. Neo-fascism is spreading across continents. Militarism is on the rise. Genocide in Palestine continues to be livestreamed while war rages on from Sudan to Ukraine and Myanmar. Workers suffer under a worldwide assault on their political rights and freedoms. In short, we live in a world imperialist economy that continually reproduces inequality, poverty and war and is driven by the capitalist logic of ever-expanding accumulation that is pushing us towards planetary breakdown. We need alternative visions, and fast. With this in mind, the Havana Group of the Progressive International launched its Program of Action on the Construction of a New International Economic Order towards the end of 2024. The launch was timed to mark the 50th anniversary of its namesake. The Program of Action, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1974, sought to establish principles for equality between nations and peoples, but it was undone by the oil and Global South debt crises, combined with United States-led resistance to its implementation. Arguably, the 2024 Program of Action stands a better chance. Many Global South countries have significantly increased their economic and political power over the past 50 years while the North is shaken by US President Donald Trump's economic policies in pursuit of his 'America first'. US unilateralism may well undo the Global North's decades-long coordinated action to maintain its dominant position. In this context, the updated 2024 programme proposes policies that can break the developmental divide between the Global North and South and deliver a 'sustainable future' of 'shared prosperity across the world'. To achieve these goals, the programme identifies five major areas for collective action by governments in the South: climate, industry, finance, technology and governance. Within each area, several objectives are set out, followed by implementable measures for how to get there. The 31 proposed measures contain a mix of the old and the new, from long-established efforts to improve the terms of trade, to new initiatives, such as resource recycling clubs to address waste and the coordinated development of a public digital infrastructure. The most notable new addition, and of no surprise, is climate. Here, the programme is bold and uncompromising in its objectives, demanding full sovereignty over resources, clean energy abundance, the end of economic dependency, ecologically equal exchange of materials and energy, environmental justice and climate reparations. Taken together, the programme's set of 31 proposed measures can be read as a suggestive roadmap for what the late Egyptian economist Samir Amin called 'delinking'. For him, the essence of the anti-imperialist strategy of delinking lies in the South, breaking from the demands imposed by the North and reorienting towards the priorities, needs and interests of its peoples. Amin noted that the core elements of a delinking agenda would entail industrialisation for the mass production of domestic goods, reviving peasant agriculture and reasserting sovereign control over productive activity and economic policy. All these aspects are in Progressive International's Program of Action. Central to each of the programme's 31 proposals is the need for coordinated action across the South to establish a range of clubs, agencies, networks, frameworks and commissions. In this, the programme is calling for a revival of 'unity in diversity', one of the central principles of the Bandung Conference, held in Indonesia in 1955 and attended by 29 Asian and African states to promote a common agenda against colonialism and neocolonialism. It is easy to dismiss all this as naive optimism, given various faultlines between regions and nations of the South. Equally, it is difficult to see past its centrality to breaking the North–South divide and building a more equitable and just future. There is also the question of whether we can rely on governing political elites to lead us into this new world. The programme suggests we can. Yet the increasing capture of the state and the ruling classes by the logics and demands of capital accumulation and the development of global capitalism can pose a major challenge. Often, governing elites function as both promoters and beneficiaries of this trend. Governments in the Global South are not only – or not necessarily – mere victims of the ills of Northern capital. In many instances, they actively participate in and materially benefit from the reproduction of the existing global capitalist order. The task ahead lies not in awaiting salvation from the enlightened ruling classes but in building at home the economic and political power of what Guyanese historian and revolutionary Walter Rodney termed the 'working people'. Self-organised peasants and workers have historically played leading roles in anti-capitalist politics and liberation struggles against colonial and imperial subjugation. Today, six in 10 workers globally are in informal employment, increasing to nine in 10 workers in the world's poorest countries. To reflect this reality, labour organising must go beyond formal wage employment to include informal and self-employed labour as well as reproductive labour. Any collective flourishing within a new international economic order will once again depend on the determining role played by labour and popular forces, broadly understood. Without this, the excesses of global capital and the violence, impoverishment and inequality these reproduce will never be constrained. The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial stance.
