Countries participating in the United Nations Special Program for the Economies of Central Asia (SPECA) have recognized the need for a more comprehensive approach to economic restructuring for more effective recovery and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
At the SPECA Economic Forum, which opened today, senior officials also called for enhanced regional cooperation in trade, transport and digital communications. Over the next two days, they will identify further potential opportunities for increased collaboration to support sustainable and inclusive efforts for socio-economic recovery in the subregion.
“Overcoming the developmental recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic provides SPECA member states with a unique opportunity to reorient their political priorities towards making their economies more resilient to future pandemics and crises. In this context, the use of regional cooperation, especially between SPECA member states and with neighboring countries, should be aimed at contributing to the achievement of the SDGs and other internationally agreed development goals,” the UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary said in her opening remarks United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) Ms. Armida Salsiya Alishahbana.
“The COVID-19 pandemic is causing tremendous damage to our economies and is placing an especially heavy burden on the poor and most vulnerable,” said Olga Algayerova, UN Deputy Secretary-General and UNECE Executive Secretary. “I strongly support the decisions of the Governing Council taken in recent years to transform SPECA into a platform for sub-regional cooperation aimed at achieving the SDGs. UNECE, along with ESCAP, stands ready to help with our many tools – conventions, standards and best practice recommendations – to recover from the crisis and get back on track for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement, including very important, by accelerating the transition to a circular economy.”
This year, the Forum will review the complementarity between the implementation of short- to medium-term measures to support socio-economic recovery and the call for action to accelerate the implementation of relevant international agendas, such as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Vienna program of action.
“Kyrgyzstan will continue to pay great attention to the development of regional cooperation with the SPECA member countries,” E.P. Mr. Sanjar Mukanbetov, Minister of Economy of the Kyrgyz Republic. He also noted the particular importance of joining efforts to overcome the adverse economic consequences of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as sharing experience and recommendations on taking effective measures to ensure the protection of public health in the fight against coronavirus infection COVID-19.
SPECA countries are expected to consider joining relevant regional and international agreements to strengthen trade and transport links, such as the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement, Framework Agreement on Facilitating Cross-Border Paperless Trade, the Asian Highway Network, the Trans-Asian Railway Network and the Intergovernmental agreement on “dry ports”. SPECA countries will also discuss innovative financing strategies for resource mobilization efforts, as well as the development of national strategies and action plans to enhance digitalization and innovation. The recommendations of the 2020 SPECA Economic Forum will be presented for adoption at the 15th session of the SPECA Governing Council on 20 November 2020.
The SPECA program was established in 1998 to strengthen sub-regional cooperation in Central Asia and to facilitate its integration into the world economy. It also serves as a platform for cross-border cooperation to achieve the SDGs. The SPECA countries are Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. ESCAP and UNECE jointly support the activities of SPECA.
