UN General Assembly
1995

development” also lies at the heart of our proposal to set up a United Nations commission for central Asia — a joint body of the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) and the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). This idea was initially proposed by the President of the Republic of Kazakstan, Mr. N. Nazarbaev, at the Summit of the member States of the Economic Cooperation Organization in 1993 in Istanbul. The common nature of the social, economic and political objectives of the countries in the region, on the threshold of the twenty-first century, determines the need to establish regional mechanisms for their attainment and to create appropriate structures. The progress achieved by the countries of Central Asia in this regard is reflected by the rather effective activities of the OECD, as well as those of the economic union between Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Speaking about the importance of this problem for the Central Asian States, I would like to note that, judging by past experience, the efforts of two important