Armenia

I begin by congratulating Mr. Hennadiy Udovenko on his election as President of the General Assembly at its fifty-second session. I am confident that the skills and vast experience he has acquired throughout his distinguished diplomatic career will provide the guidance we need to guarantee the successful outcome of the session. I must also recall the remarkable diligence of his predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Razali Ismail, and his valuable contribution to the work of the fifty-first regular session and the nineteenth special session of the General Assembly. As the twentieth century comes to an end, it is evident that all countries in the world, advanced, developing and transitional, will be substantially affected by globalization. Further specialization, the widening of markets through trade, a broader division of labour and a more efficient and more diversified allocation of financial resources should increase overall productivity and raise 16 living standards. However, no country will benefit from this trend spontaneously or automatically. The major tasks that Governments face today are development and the pursuit of sound policies and appropriate structural adjustments to meet the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities of globalization. Economic reforms, which Armenia began immediately after its declaration of independence, have changed all key sectors of the economy, particularly agriculture, enterprises, prices and wages, the banking industry and the fiscal, foreign trade and exchange systems. Concurrently, the country began the institution of secure property rights and a judiciary strong enough to protect them. After a devastating fall in real output from 1991 through 1994, macroeconomic and structural reforms, combined with privatization, have stabilized the country's economy while bringing down inflation, and allowed Armenia to achieve significant growth in 1996. Armenia's gross domestic product, which dropped 25.3 per cent on average from 1991 to 1993, has turned around and has averaged 6.3 per cent annual growth since then. This is despite a disastrous earthquake in 1988, the conflict between Nagorny Karabakh and Azerbaijan, which caused the inflow of more than 300,000 refugees, and continuing problems in obtaining stable energy and industrial supplies because of a blockade imposed by neighbouring Azerbaijan. The drastic changes were coincident with the adoption of a medium-term macroeconomic reform programme supported by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The major objectives for the 1997 period are: to maintain a real annual growth rate in gross domestic product of about 6 per cent; to continue curbing the inflation rate for the whole year and keeping it under 10 per cent; and to augment the level of gross foreign exchange reserves to the equivalent of 2.8 months of imports. Also, the Government of Armenia will go on to take several measures during the programme period aimed at continuing to refine the targeting of social safety-net benefits to alleviate a sharp decrease in average consumption levels and improve income distribution. For Armenia and countries with economies in transition as a whole, the move towards world market prices brought severely deteriorated terms of trade. The introduction of currency convertibility and a notable increase in external borrowing began to cause frequent unsustainable external debt positions. The resources which are urgently required to modernize the industrial structure to internationally competitive levels and to improve the general infrastructure immensely exceed domestic saving capacities. This situation underlines the necessity of addressing more thoroughly the needs of countries in transition by the international donor community, though this should not cause a decrease in official development assistance flows to the developing world. In this context, Armenia welcomes the adoption of the Agenda for Development by the General Assembly earlier this year as one of the major documents which should be among the guidelines for actions of the United Nations system and affiliated institutions to strengthen international cooperation for development. We also support the appraisal of conditions in Africa, least developed countries, small island developing States and landlocked developing countries as “Critical situations and special problems” within the Agenda for Development, and we hope that the post-cold-war international community will pay more attention to these issues of prime concern. The interaction between the United Nations and other multilateral development institutions, including the Bretton Woods institutions and the World Trade Organization, should be intensified, involving the field level in particular. Joint efforts could be concentrated especially on those areas where private investors need encouragement, and where without such general institutional support they would hesitate to commit long- term capital. Proper intergovernmental follow-up and implementation of the corresponding General Assembly and Economic and Social Council resolutions and decisions are capable of facilitating this process. Sustainable development and related environmental issues are other areas of strategic importance where the United Nations must further strengthen its credibility. We acknowledge the outcome of the nineteenth special session of the General Assembly for the purpose of an overall review and appraisal of the implementation of Agenda 21 as an important step to enhance the implementation of the major international global and regional environmental agreements. Economic and democratic reforms are complementary and heavily interdependent. Political and economic freedom means more predictable, more transparent, more constitutional, less discriminatory and less corruption-prone law-making and enforcement. 17 We recognize democracy and respect for human rights, universal access to knowledge and information and a high level of public awareness as preconditions for sustainable social development. We welcome the Secretary-General's efforts to strengthen the role of human rights within the United Nations system. Armenia considers self-determination to be an inalienable human right. In this respect, the Nagorny Karabakh conflict continues to occupy the Government of Armenia. Despite concentrated negotiations of the past several years, the maintenance of a ceasefire for more than three years, and the intensified efforts of the international community, the Nagorny Karabakh peace process continues to suffer from a lack of serious progress. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Lisbon Summit of December 1996, which was expected to reflect on the peace process, to consolidate the ceasefire and to provide impetus for a possible breakthrough this year, failed to serve its intended purpose. Instead, by attempting to predetermine the final status of Nagorny Karabakh, it unnecessarily stiffened Azerbaijan's position and minimized the possibility of a mutually acceptable compromise solution. We believe that the final status of Nagorny Karabakh should be negotiated between the parties directly involved and not dictated by outside interested parties. Armenia appreciates the most recent efforts of the Minsk Group Co-Chairmen to reach a compromise solution, which were also manifested in the Denver statement of the Presidents of the three co-chairing countries. Armenia has provided a detailed response to the proposal of the Minsk Group Co-Chairmen, insisting on securing commonly recognized freedoms for the Nagorny Karabakh population, as well as guaranteeing their security so that their physical existence and control over their territory and destiny are never threatened. Armenia believes that a resolution acceptable to all parties involved is key to establishing durable peace and stability in the region and to stimulating economic growth and prosperity in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Nagorny Karabakh. My country remains committed to a negotiated settlement of the conflict and will continue to engage constructively in the peace process. However, we urge Azerbaijan to negotiate directly with the elected officials of Nagorny Karabakh, for we strongly believe that no final solution can be achieved without Karabakh's direct participation in the deliberations on its own political status. The Republic of Armenia has been actively participating in the fields of arms control and disarmament. We reaffirm our commitment to full implementation of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) objectives. To that end, Armenia welcomes the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) programme on strengthening the effectiveness and improving the efficiency of the safeguards system. We have already expressed our readiness to conclude a supplementary protocol to the safeguards agreement with the IAEA. Last year the overwhelming majority of United Nations Member States signed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. We join the international community in calling upon all States to sign and ratify this Treaty to ensure its early entry into force. The Chemical Weapons Convention was another historic accomplishment in the field of global disarmament. As a founding member of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Armenia will advocate the full and effective implementation of the Convention. Armenia also supports the complementary efforts — through the Ottawa process — aimed at achieving a complete ban on anti-personnel landmines. We realize the importance of developing technological solutions to mine detection and clearance, and we fully support programmes on assistance to mine victims. The reform of the Security Council should become another important component of the overall reform within the United Nations. Armenia supports the current discussions on improving the representative character of the Security Council. We are in favour of expansion in both categories, permanent and non-permanent. However, while strengthening the capacity of the Council, such an increase should also safeguard its decision-making efficiency. We believe that five new seats should be allocated as permanent for the Security Council to better reflect present political and economic realities. This arrangement should include improved representation for the countries of Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean. We also support the desire of Germany and Japan to acquire the status of permanent members of the Security Council. As regards the non-permanent seats, it is our view that the expansion should take into account the legitimate interests of the Eastern European Group, whose membership has more than doubled in recent years. 18 The Government of Armenia welcomes the proposals by the Secretary-General for the reform of the United Nations. We fully support his commendable efforts to refine the structure of this Organization and to streamline the operations of its system, to make it more flexible and capable of adequate, timely responses to the challenges of today's world. These proposals are a sound basis for immediate actions, further negotiations and deliberations by the General Assembly. There is a strong need to consolidate the ongoing attempts of the United Nations system and Member States to alter and develop the Organization. At the same time, we should avoid reducing the evaluation of these reforms to a purely financial or managerial approach. Reform must enable the United Nations to attain more effectively the mandates and priorities enshrined in the Charter. In conclusion, let me assure the Assembly that Armenia, keenly aware of the importance of an effective and active United Nations, is committed to contributing its share in the strengthening of this Organization.