The Tashkent Declaration on the SPECA was signed
on 26 March 1998 by Republic of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic,
Republic
of Tajikistan, and Republic of Uzbekistan on the one side,
and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and
the United
Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
(UNESCAP) on the other,
a.) recognizing the communality of economic development interests
of the Central Asian States;
b.) recognizing the need for further strengthening
of economic ties among Central Asian States (CAS); ande xpressing
a willingness to integrate
the CAS economically with Europe and Asia; and
c.) declaring their intention
to adopt the UN Special Programme for the Economies of
Central Asia (SPECA) and to begin its implementation.
The objective of the Programme is to support the
CAS in developing their cooperation, creating incentives for economic
development
and integration into the economies of Europe and Asia. The implementation
of the Programme will be based on coooperation and reciprocal benefit,
transparency and equality of countries -
participants with the support of donor countries and international
organizations.
As the first stage of the programme implementation, the following
priority areas have been recognized:
a.) development of transport infrastructure and simplification of
procedures for the transfer of goods, services and labour resources
through
national borders;
b.) rational and effective use of energy and water resources of
Central Asia;
c.) international economic conference for Tajikistan, common regional
development strategy and attraction of foreign investment; and
d.) regional cooperation in developing a multi-choice approach to
the routes of hydrocarbon supply through pipelines to the world market.
The list of cooperation priority areas can be extended upon agreement
of the Parties.
In order to ensure a successful implementation of the agreed programmes
in the framework of SPECA and mobilization of additional resources,
the CAS and UN Regional Commissions call other states and UN system
agencies, supporting states, donor countries, and international financial
organizations, as well as the private sector, to provide financial
and other types of assistance to the Programme.
In order to provide for rapid implementation of the Programme, the
Governments of the SPECA participating countries, jointly with the
UNECE and UNESCAP, as well as the UN Resident Coordinators in the
countries shall prepare and agree on the organizational arrangements
of the
Programme, decide on its financing mechnisms and implementation guidelines.
The SPECA participating countries express gratitude to Mr. Kofi
Annan, UN Secretary-General, for supporting this initiative of the
Central Asian States and for mobilizing UN resources for these purposes.
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