DUSHANBE, June 30, 2008, Asia-Plus — Mr. Marek Belka, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), highly appraised the Dushanbe international conference on the water-related disaster risk reduction issues at a meeting with President Emomali Rahmon here on June 28.
Speaking to reporters after a meeting with the Tajik head of state, Mr. Belka noted that the conference helps realize complexity of problems connected with water-related disasters,
He noted that in the course o the talks they had discussed various ways of investing in enhancement of Tajikistan’s energy sector.
“We know large expensive projects that may yield large results correspondingly,” said the UNECE executive secretary, “However, there are also small projects that are cheaper but important for meeting local requirements [in power].”
According to him, he asked President Rahmon to consider and discuss the issue of Tajikistan’s joining international conventions on that issue. Mr. Belka underlined the importance of cooperation with international institutions.
He said that they had also discussed issues related to the present economic situation both in Tajikistan and other Central Asian countries. “We knew a lot about the country’s plan,” said the UNECE executive secretary. “The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe is ready to provide assistance, provide knowledge and conduct trainings.”
Commenting on cooperation between the countries in the region, Mr. Belka noted that it’s a complex problem, “because not all countries are equally interested in this cooperation.”
“In my opinion, it would be better if international community intervenes, because it introduces norms, principles of confidence,” said he, “For us, welfare of all countries is equally important, whether countries of Europe, America or China. If one country is unstable it means that the whole region is unstable.”
