General Assembly Session 58 meeting 72

The President

We now turn to the draft resolution recommended by the Sixth Committee in paragraph 8 of its report. The representative of Sierra Leone has asked to speak in explanation of position before action is taken on the draft resolution, and I give him the floor.

Mr. Kanu (Sierra Leone)

When this draft resolution came before the Sixth Committee for consideration, my delegation did not join the consensus because, as we indicated then, we did not have sufficient information on the Eurasian Economic Community. In the intervening period, we have been honoured and privileged to be furnished with sufficient information that has helped my delegation to understand what this community is seeking to achieve. On the basis of what we have been furnished, we are now satisfied on the bona fides of this Community, and, therefore, we are now prepared to join the consensus on this agenda item.

We wish also to express our profound thanks to the delegation of Azerbaijan which has endeavoured to furnish us with the requisite information on the basis of which we are now prepared to join the consensus.

The President

The Assembly will now take a decision on the draft resolution recommended by the Sixth Committee in paragraph 8 of its report (A/58/523).

The Sixth Committee adopted the draft resolution without a vote. May I take it that the Assembly wishes to do the same?

Mr. Kazykhanov (Kazakhstan)

On behalf of the Member States of the Eurasian Economic Community (EAEC) -- the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation and the Republic of Tajikistan -- I would like to express our deep gratitude to the General Assembly for supporting the recommendation of the Sixth Committee on granting observer status to the EAEC in the General Assembly.

The Member States of the EAEC are grateful to those countries that have joined in sponsoring the resolution and in particular, Cambodia and Ukraine. One of them, Ukraine, has the status of observer in the EAEC. We see this decision by the General Assembly as proof that the international community has high regard for the work that is being conducted by our States in meeting the objectives and the challenges entailed in enhancing integration processes on Eurasian territory.

We also believe that this type of mechanism for cooperation, one such as the EAEC, is crucial in order for our common interests in the Eurasian region to be correctly presented at the international level. The major purposes of the Community are clearly articulated in the founding treaty of our organization and are in every way consonant with the purposes of the United Nations. The work of this regional intergovernmental organization includes a wide range of issues and encompasses economics, finance, trade, transport, energy, the environment and cooperation for development.

We are convinced that the work of the EAEC, as an organization that brings together States with enormous trade and transport potential, could become a significant factor in the ongoing post-Doha and post-Monterrey transformation of international trade and development policy. This experience and innovations which our countries are requiring as they transform their area into a free-trade zone through EAEC could, in our view, be appropriately implemented in the resumed post-Cancún negotiating process. The participation of the EAEC in the work of the General Assembly as an observer will help us establish closer cooperation between the EAEC and the United Nations so that we can achieve our common purposes in the area of socio-economic development. It will also help us establish new and more appropriate opportunities for expanding the field of cooperation between our two organizations.

The universal and comprehensive nature of the work of the United Nations, its tremendous intellectual and technological potential, puts it in a position to provide policy and technical support to the efforts of economic organizations such as the EAEC. This support from the United Nations would be an effective contributor to the successful development of the economies of our States in a time of rapidly changing global economic and trade processes.

The EAEC's involvement, as well as the involvement of other major inter-State economic associations in crafting high-level socio-economic policy decisions at the United Nations, is a positive step in light of the Secretary-General's report to the Millennium Summit with its recommendations to ensure closer coordination of macroeconomic and trade policy so as to help us achieve our common purpose, namely to increase the advantages of globalization.

In conclusion, I would once again like to thank the delegations for adopting this decision, and note the desire of our States to give solid substance to the EAEC's involvement as an observer in the General Assembly.

Mr. Rapota (Secretary-General, Eurasian Economic Community)

First of all, I would like to thank you, Mr. President, for giving me an opportunity to speak before the members of the General Assembly.

The Eurasian Economic Community (EAEC) is a regional organization, and its emergence logically stems from the high rate at which economic transformation is taking place in member States. The Community fulfils our need for regional and subregional organizations in today's world as a strong voice in helping to resolve political and socio-economic problems. One of the major purposes of our organization is set forward in its unified economic space.

We are moving forward towards that goal. Recently, we have been able to achieve genuine results in integrating our work, for example, by creating a free-trade zone on the territory of the Community. We have also adopted a number of legal measures aimed at harmonizing foreign trade, including fiscal, customs and currency legislation among our States. Legislation has also been enacted on cross-border issues, energy, transportation and social questions. The problem of migration is now very urgent for all our States. Within our organization we have a draft agreement on principles for regulating labour migration, and, if adopted, it will eliminate many problems that have to do with illegal migration.

We are also paying a great deal of attention to resolving ecological problems. A major priority of our work is the area of social issues, which is particularly important for the Central Asian States, where providing employment, medical services and education, in addition to overcoming poverty, are pressing problems.

Generally, in spite of its relative youth, our organization is already playing a significant role in encouraging and expanding the integration of Member States into the global economy and the international division of labour.

As Secretary General of the EAEC, I wish to thank members for adopting this resolution today on granting observer status for the Community in the General Assembly. For us it is not just a formal act, it represents the conclusion of a process of international and legal recognition of our organization as a full-fledged participant in international economic integration. This new status, no doubt, will allow the EAEC to strengthen and improve its potential and will help us broaden the frameworks of our international cooperation. We are prepared to work very closely with the United Nations, as well as with all other international partners who are interested in working with us.

In conclusion, I would like to pledge to members that the EAEC will do its utmost to cooperate with the United Nations so that we can meet all our challenges and strengthen and support international peace and security by ensuring sustainable social economic developments in the Eurasian region.

The President

May I take it that it is the wish of the Assembly to conclude its consideration of agenda item 162?