Uzbekistan’s President Assures for the Continued Growth of the Country at 76th Session of the UNGA
In the last UNGA session, the President of Uzbekistan has flagged the idea of ‘The Code of Voluntary Commitments of States during Pandemic,’ which was developed and distributed as an official document of the UN General Assembly.
By Pravesh Kumar Gupta
At a time when the world is going through a lot of transformations, the 76th session of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) was anticipated to be crucial. Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev delivered his speech at the 76th UNGA session on September 23, 2021. He has highlighted some very vital points of regional and international importance. COVID-19 pandemic has been a watershed event in the history of humanity. It has brought out the need for global cooperation in the healthcare sector. WHO played an essential role by initiating COVAX global platform to provide the COVID-19 vaccines to needy countries. President Mirziyoyev emphasized Uzbekistan’s contribution in this regard. In the last UNGA session, the President of Uzbekistan has flagged the idea of ‘The Code of Voluntary Commitments of States during Pandemic,’ which was developed and distributed as an official document of the UN General Assembly.
The large-scale and rapid democratic reforms that are underway in Uzbekistan cannot be overlooked. Democratic reforms are significant to note here. The Uzbek government has ensured the protection of Human rights, freedom for the press and media. For the first time in its history, Uzbekistan was elected as a United Nations Human Rights Council member. In order to elevate the standard of living and eradicate poverty, many initiatives have been adopted, and the result has been positive. In this regard, President Mirziyoyev said that becoming one of the countries with above-middle income in terms of the per capita income by 2030 is one of the main goals to be achieved under his leadership. Also, this development plan will be accorded with the spirit of the UN Sustainable Development Goals until 2030. He proposed holding an international conference dedicated to examining the problems of global economic recovery and implementing the best practices in poverty reduction in the post-pandemic period in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan’s progress in the last three to four years cannot be undermined and taken as precedence for the further growth and development that Uzbekistan’s President has proposed by 2030.
President Mirziyoyev raised two other significant aspects in his UNGA remarks. First, positive outcomes of the initiative of regional cooperation led by Uzbekistan’s President are notable. There has been a sharp rise in regional trade between the Central Asian countries. Also, due to the easing of visa regimes and border management, the people to people contact was elevated. Second, the central Asian region is landlocked; therefore, the problem of connectivity needs paramount attention. In this regard, President Mirziyoyev has put forward a proposal to adopt a special Resolution of the United Nations General Assembly on strengthening the interconnectivity of Central and South Asia. In continuation to the high-level conference, Uzbekistan organized on South and Central Asia Connectivity in July 2021. He also reemphasized the need for a permanent UN Committee on Afghanistan. The enhancement of the regional connectivity will also be beneficial for Afghanistan as it will serve as transit between South and Central Asia.
Uzbekistan pays special attention to combating climate change and protecting the environment and biodiversity. Uzbek President extended gratitude for adopting a Special Resolution of the UN General Assembly declaring the Aral Sea Region as a zone of environmental innovation and technology. Furthermore, the President emphasized Uzbekistan’s progress towards renewable energy. He said that Uzbekistan envisages doubling energy efficiency by 2030 by increasing the share of renewable energy by 25% and developing an environmentally friendly transportation system. By 2025, the Government of Uzbekistan will commission the new solar and wind power plants with a total capacity of 2,900 megawatts. Next year, President Mirziyoyev proposed holding a High-Level International Forum cooperating with the United Nations on ‘green energy’ in the Nukus region. In 2023 in Uzbekistan, he also offered to have the Sixth High-Level Assembly under the auspices of the United Nations for in-depth discussions of the priorities of global environmental policy.
President Mirziyoyev’s initiatives have come a long way with high impact results and that too in a brief period. Now there are high expectations from his regime not for the matter related to the domestic issues but also regional and global significance. As the Presidential elections will be held in Uzbekistan in October 2021, President Mirziyoyev is expected to win Presidential elections based on his previous performance. His UNGA speech is of much importance as it includes several initiatives for internal and regional development. Upon his re-election, it may be estimated that the pace of the reforms and development will increase.
(The author is Research Associate (Central Asia), Vivekananda International Foundation)
