Speech by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev at the 150th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union

Dear Mrs. Tulia Exxon!

Dear Mr. Martin Chungong!

Dear leaders and members of parliaments!

Ladies and gentlemen!

It gives me great pleasure to welcome the distinguished delegations, arrived from all continents of the world in Uzbekistan to participate in the anniversary, 150th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

The Assembly of the Union, uniting 181 national parliaments and 15 regional associations, is being held for the first time in Central Asia. We are proud that this forum is taking place in our beautiful capital, the city of Tashkent.

We perceive such high trust and honor as recognition of our great achievements in the large-scale democratic transformations being carried out in the country, the development of parliamentarism and representative government.

I was also a member of parliament for 15 years. I know and understand well how responsible your noble mission is, designed to make the world safer and societies more prosperous.

You are like a strong bridge connecting peoples with strong friendship. You are a powerful force capable of perceiving the concerns and problems of ordinary people, raising them, if necessary, to the regional and international level and finding effective solutions to them.

You undoubtedly have an important role in expressing the will of your people, developing national development models and adequately responding to modern threats.

I take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to the leadership of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, representatives of the legislative bodies of member states and observer countries of the Organization, international parliamentary associations.

Welcome to Uzbekistan, dear guests!

Dear participants Assemblies!

It is no secret that in recent years, armed conflicts, environmental and man-made disasters, economic crises, “trade wars”, threats of terrorism and extremism have been intensifying in different regions of the world.

In such an extremely difficult situation, time itself requires parliaments to intensify their influence and participation in preserving peace, ensuring social development and justice.

I would like to emphasize that the Inter-Parliamentary Union has become an authoritative and largest multilateral institution for the implementation of representative diplomacy and the systematic solution of pressing issues based on the common interests of peoples and states.

The Union's contribution to global stability and solidarity is evidenced by its status as a permanent observer at the United Nations. This is clearly confirmed by the fact that more than 2,000 representatives from almost 140 countries are taking part in today’s forum.

The theme of the Assembly is deeply symbolic - “Parliamentary movement in the name of social progress and justice,” which was determined on our initiative.

According to analytical data, over the past 30 years the volume of the world gross domestic product increased 4.5 times. However, unfortunately, the incomes of the poor have remained virtually unchanged. If this trend continues, by 2030 the world will have 575 million people living in poverty. 84 million children will be deprived of education.

It is obvious that such a situation causes enormous damage to the economy and society, weakens the activities of socio-economic institutions and, ultimately, limits the opportunities of people.

Identifying the true causes of such inequality and combating its consequences are undoubtedly the main tasks for all of us.

I am convinced that the establishment and the further expansion of multifaceted cooperation between representative bodies of states in this direction will make a worthy contribution to our common development.

I hope that for these purposes, parliaments will join forces and mobilize all their intellectual potential and capabilities, using and exchanging the best traditions and best practices.

I wish you all great success in such an important matter.

Dear leaders and members of delegations!

Today, New Uzbekistan confidently follows the path of irreversible democratic reforms, implements a pragmatic foreign policy, and conducts an open and active dialogue with the world community.

We are creating all the conditions for the formation of a strong and responsible parliament in our country and the implementation of an effective parliamentary diplomacy.

In the Uzbekistan 2030 Strategy, we clearly identified the development of the institution of parliament as an important task. In recent years, more than 20 laws have been adopted aimed at increasing the role of the legislative branch in the life of society and the state.

The powers of parliament were radically expanded by the new Constitution, adopted in 2023 at a national referendum. The number of exclusive powers of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis increased from 5 to 12, and the Senate - from 14 to 18. A number of powers of the President to form judicial, anti-corruption and anti-monopoly bodies were transferred to the legislative branch. The participation of parliament in the formation of the government, as well as mechanisms of control over law enforcement agencies, have been further strengthened.

Based on these changes, the powers of local Kengashes of people's deputies were expanded in the regions of the country. In particular, more than 30 powers have been transferred to them, and this process continues consistently.

Today, the share of women in the national parliament has reached 38 percent. We are especially pleased that this indicator was assessed by the Inter-Parliamentary Union as the highest growth in the Asian region over the past 30 years.

In addition, in 2021, the activities of youth parliaments were organized for the first time at the chambers of the Oliy Majlis.

Currently, our national parliament has established close ties with almost 100 foreign similar structures. 80 friendship groups and joint commissions are working effectively.

Uzbekistan is promoting its initiatives of international importance in the parliamentary sphere. In particular, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution “On strengthening the role of parliaments in accelerating the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.”

In cooperation with the Union, the Forum of Global Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation in the Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals is held every two years.

Representatives of Uzbekistan actively participate in the work of the Asian Parliamentary Assembly, the Inter-Parliamentary Forum of Central Asian States, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Interparliamentary Assembly of the Commonwealth of Independent States and other platforms.

In general, today our representative bodies have taken on greater responsibility for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, supporting civil society institutions, ensuring social protection and poverty reduction, gender equality, and the fight against corruption.

In order to achieve these noble goals, people's representatives are working in our parliament, who have won the trust of voters, are dedicated to their work, have great potential, advanced thinking and rich experience.

Dear ladies and gentlemen!

The global changes taking place today pose challenges to the Inter-Parliamentary union and our national parliaments, new tasks.

Uzbekistan, as a full member of the Organization, is currently actively participating in the work of all its structures and forums. Fruitful practical interaction has been established on priority areas of the global agenda.

Let me dwell on the following issues.

First. Conflicts in different regions of the planet pose a serious threat to global and regional peace and security.

I would like to emphasize once again that Uzbekistan is a strong supporter of resolving any conflicts and contradictions exclusively through diplomacy and peaceful negotiations.

We hope that the ongoing negotiation process on the situation around Ukraine will yield a positive result.

We believe it is important to find solutions to the most pressing problems on the basis of generally accepted norms of international law, the Charter and resolutions of the United Nations.

Thus, the only and fair solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is the implementation of the principle of “two states for two peoples.”

We must not forget about our neighbor – Afghanistan. We believe that it is important to prevent the isolation of this country in the international arena, to establish a constructive dialogue with the current government, to consider Afghanistan as an integral part of the Central Asian region and a space of new opportunities. On this issue we count on the support of parliaments.

Uzbekistan considers the United Nations as the only universal and unparalleled global platform. We fully support the systemic efforts of Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to deeply reform this international organization and increase its potential.

At the same time, we welcome the statement of the Eurasian Group dedicated to the 80th anniversary of Victory in World War II.

Second. Climate change, which has become an acute problem of our time and a serious obstacle to the development of all countries, must constantly be in the center of our attention. After all, its devastating consequences primarily affect developing countries.

Now more than ever, it is important to fully implement our obligations under the Paris Agreement and achieve carbon neutrality.

We discussed these issues in detail at the international climate forum, held recently in Samarkand.

We will achieve significant progress in the field of climate policy, if supporting advanced initiatives, stimulating the transition to the use of renewable energy sources and “green” technologies become important tasks of parliaments.

We believe that climate change should be permanent and one of the main issues on the agenda of the Assembly.

Third. Strong strengthening of women's rights is one of the key conditions for the development of society.

As the analysis shows, if equal participation of women and men in all sectors of the economy is ensured, the volume of global gross domestic product could increase by 26 percent. It is encouraging that the proportion of women in parliaments around the world has risen from 11.3 percent in 1995 to 27.2 percent this year. By implementing effective measures to support the active participation of women in the management of society, we will undoubtedly achieve even better results.

I would like to especially emphasize that in recent years, in our country, together with UN institutions and the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the Asian Women's Forum and the 14th Summit of Women Leaders of World Parliaments were successfully held.

I hope for support for our initiative to adopt the UN General Assembly resolution “On the expansion of socio-economic, political and legal and cultural and humanitarian activities of Asian women.”

Fourth. Along with the activities of youth in parliament, an extremely pressing issue is the expansion of rights and opportunities for the participation of young people in all spheres of society.

Educating a new generation of parliamentarians, establishing effective international cooperation in this direction is an important factor in our future.

I think it is necessary to more actively involve youth in the activities of national parliaments and the Union, to strengthen constant dialogue. I propose to create a Global Platform of Youth Parliaments within the framework of the Inter-Parliamentary Union and hold its founding forum in Uzbekistan.

Fifth. Today, more than ever, it is important to ensure the rights of every person to social protection, the provision of quality services based on international standards and norms.

We declared Uzbekistan a social state and determined the priority of our policy to ensure comprehensive protection of the population. We are implementing the “From Poverty to Prosperity” program.

Over the past 8 years, more than 7 million people have been lifted out of poverty in the country, the poverty level has decreased from 35 percent to 8.9 percent. This year we set a goal to reduce this figure to 6 percent.

We invite representatives of the parliaments of your countries to take an active part in the International Conference on Poverty Reduction, which will be held in our country in September this year.

Another important question. Time itself requires us to strengthen systemic cooperation in the field of artificial intelligence, which is widely penetrating into all areas.

If a model law on the ethics of using artificial intelligence is developed, then this innovative legal framework will become for all countries a unique model for effective regulation of the rapidly developing industry in the world.

Dear leaders and members of parliaments!

All our proposals and initiatives are significant in that they fully meet the goals of the Inter-Parliamentary Union strategy.

Our approaches will also be reflected in the Tashkent Declaration, which will be adopted following the results of today's historic Assembly.

Of course, no country and society in the world can develop solely through the adoption of numerous laws or decisions.

By uniting on this path, strengthening the spirit of lawmaking and mobilizing all knowledge and experience, we will definitely achieve our common, united goals.

I am confident that during almost 70 different events and debates within the Assembly you will comprehensively exchange views on the most important tasks of parliaments and determine plans for the future.

The decisions taken today will open a new page in the history of our multifaceted and long-term cooperation.

Dear friends!

I would like to wish you all health, new strength and energy in your noble activities towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by the world community, ensuring social justice and equality, promoting high democratic values.

I wish the work of the Assembly success.

Thank you for your attention.

Official website of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan