DUSHANBE, October 22, 2009, Asia-Plus — Joining agreements of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) is of significant importance for Tajikistan, new Minister of Transport and Communications Olimjon Boboyev remarked at a conference entitled “Role of UNECE in Development of Transport Sector in Tajikistan” in Dushanbe yesterday.
Organized by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) regional project, the conference aimed to discuss Tajikistan’s participation in five agreements that are currently under consideration of the government.
According to Boboyev, the country’s joining the UNECE agreements would promote simplification of movement of commodities through borders, increase in trade turnover, as well as decrease in prices of imports and increase in national income from exports.
For his part, Mr. Jeffrey Lerer, USAID Country Director for Tajikistan, noted that the UNECE transport agreements aimed at coordinating cross-border transport procedures, border control and rules concerning transport employees, technical requirements for transport means.
“Joining these agreements, Tajikistan will simplify transit of commodities through border that will promote development of trade in the future,” noted Mr. Lerer, “International practice shows that increase in trade volumes will allow decreasing prices of imports for consumers with simultaneous increase in national income from exports.”
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) was set up in 1947 by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). It is one of five regional commissions of the United Nations. The others are the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAS), the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the Economic and Social Commission fro Western Asia (ESCWA).
Its major aim is to promote pan-European economic integration. To do so, UNECE brings together 56 countries located in the European Union, non-EU Western and Eastern Europe, South-East Europe and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and North America. All these countries dialogue and cooperate under the aegis of the UNECE on economic and sectoral issues.
