Tajik President Emomali Rahmon yesterday took part and spoke at the 78th session of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), which was held in a virtual format.

According to the Tajik president’s official website, the meeting was also attended by the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, President of the UN General Assembly Abdulla Shahid, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific Armida Alisjahbana, heads of state and government of Thailand, Georgia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Fiji, Malaysia, Samoa, Vietnam, New Zealand and other international and regional organizations.

Speaking at the vent, Tajik leader noted that Tajikistan welcomes the theme of today's forum entitled "Common Agenda for Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific."

During his speech, President Emomali Rahmon reportedly reflected on the impact of the global COVID-19 crisis on the economies of countries, joint efforts to combat the disease, reduce its spread and continued economic and social consequences on a global scale.

“Today, thanks to timely anti-crisis measures taken by the government to prevent the impact of integration on the socio-economic development of the country, there is a tendency to revive the economy after the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, in 2021, economic growth in the country amounted to 9.2%, which is 4.7% more than the previous year,” Tajik leader noted.

According to him, the growth of consumer demand, foreign investment, revival of the process of economic development and world trade are the main factors contributing to the rapid growth of the economy.

In order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, President Emomali Rahmon stressed the need to strengthen the regulatory framework for multifaceted transportation, its infrastructure development, the establishment of regional logistics centers, the introduction of digital technologies, as well as the intelligent transport system within ESCAP to completely break the communication deadlock of Tajikistan and turn it into a transit country.

He further noted that in order to implement plans and programs to address water issues, the Second Dushanbe Conference on the International Decade for Action "Water for Sustainable Development, 2018-2028” will be held in Dushanbe from June 6-9 in the framework of the International Decade for Action "Water for Sustainable Development".