Esteemed Mr. President,
Esteemed Mr. Secretary General,
Esteemed Members of the Delegations,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I sincerely greet and congratulate you on the commencement of the work of the 63rd session of the UN general Assembly. First of all, I would like to convey wishes of peace and prosperity to you and the people of your countries from H.E. Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, President of Turkmenistan.

Permit me to congratulate the esteemed President Mr. Miguel d'Escoto Brockman on his election to this high and responsible post and wish him success in organizing the fruitful work of the 63rd session of the UN General Assembly.

Permit me also to express our thanks to Mr. Srdjan Kerim for his successful leadership of the previous session and his active interaction with the delegations.

Mr. President,

At the present stage the United Nations Organization, which is called under its mandate to discuss and resolve issues relating to the maintenance of international peace and security, is going through one of the most critical moments in the history of its existence. This is especially evident against the background of the developments that are happening today both at the global and regional level. Diversity of the entire spectrum of contemporary challenges and threats calls for an adequate development of the entire range of approaches to their prevention through interaction of all UN member states. Today we need real measures for countering and fighting such global challenges as international terrorism, human trafficking, organized crime, illegal drug trafficking and the threat of proliferation of the weapons of mass destruction. We have also become witness to the effects of climate change and environmental degradation. On top of that world community faces global issues relating to energy and food security.

Turkmenistan is a principled and active participant in the process designed to identify joint actions aimed at resolving the most pressing problems of our time. In this content we regard the need to intensify international actions aimed at ensuring peace and security as one of the first priority tasks. Fight against terrorism is one of the most important aspects of this problem.

Turkmenistan, as a party to major instruments adopted by the United Nations with a view to combat international terrorism and organized crime, supports United Nations? efforts aimed at developing a global strategy to fight terrorism and stands ready to provide its practical assistance to the international community in this regard.

Non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction is a pressing issue of international agenda that is connected with ensuring peace and security. Our country plays an active role in identifying nonproliferation measures and takes practical steps for their implementation, both at the national and international levels.

As a party to the Comprehensive Treaty on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and other most important international legal instruments in this sphere, Turkmenistan joined the international initiative aimed at preventing proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. In this connection the signing of the Treaty on Establishing a Nuclear-Free Zone in Central Asia which was prepared and adopted under the aegis of the United Nations has become an important element in the efforts of the world community aimed at resolving this issue.

Mr. President,

Today we all face the need to take a fresh look at the existing system for ensuring international peace and security. Present day situation and emerging tendencies call for an adequate approach and formulation of comprehensive measures, and member states of the Community of nations should take part in their implementation.

I am confident that ongoing discussions and deliberations at the General Assembly session will provide an opportunity to take stock of the entire panorama of contemporary world through the prism of ensuring safe life for states and people. Undoubtedly, the General Assembly will help to consolidate efforts of the UN member states in their effective implementation.

Turkmenistan stands for close cooperation with the United Nations in executing comprehensive measures for collective interaction in order to deal with the most pressing issues of our times. In this connection we believe that it is necessary to consider the newly emerging and qualitatively distinct factors in ensuring security. Suffice it to mention that energy security has become one of the integral components of the global security system. Availability and accessibility of fuel and energy resources, their free delivery to international markets and effective use by the consumers have become major factors in the development of the world economy as a whole.

As one of the major oil and natural gas producers Turkmenistan holds a prominent place in the global energy system. In this connection we take a highly responsible position to developing international cooperation on the basis of our national interests and needs of our partners.

Turkmenistan's policy aimed at diversifying supplies of hydrocarbon raw materials and ensuring energy security has become an important element of this approach. It is apparent that major investments are needed for developing effective and stable system of global energy security and that considerable share of those investments should be directed towards transportation of hydrocarbons and protection of energy infrastructure. In order to ensure adequate supplies to the world energy markets we will also need a highly developed infrastructure of international pipeline networks.

Furthermore, ensuring energy security is not confined only to problems relating to an increase in the volume of hydrocarbon extraction and development of new deposits and expansion of the infrastructure for transporting and delivering energy supplies to end users. In this connection it is necessary to take into account some other factors, namely level of political stability, situation at the world markets, and presence of a set of security guarantees for international pipelines. Adequate security of energy infrastructure facilities also implies a decrease in their vulnerability from the impact of natural and man-made disasters, likely risks connected to changes in the military-political situation in certain regions of the world, threats from international terrorists and unauthorized siphoning of transported energy resources. Problems of this nature often become a cause for the interruption or reduction in the supplies of energy raw materials, in particular oil and natural gas as well as in financial losses and higher prices for energy supplies. All this has a negative impact on the development of the world economy.

Therefore, at present coordination of the efforts of states aimed at establishing a unified system of energy security has become an especially pressing issue. To this end it is necessary to develop an appropriate international legal framework and effective partnership mechanisms, including those for the protection of energy transportation systems. It appears that this problem affects us all: producers, transit countries, and users of energy resources.
Proceeding from the above Turkmenistan has launched an initiative aimed at elaborating under the auspices of the United Nations of a unique document defining the legal basis and security guarantees for the functioning of international pipelines.

Turkmenistan has prepared a draft resolution of the UN General Assembly entitled "Reliability of energy transit and its role in ensuring stable economic development and international cooperation" which is being proposed for consideration at the 63rd session of the General Assembly as a preliminary step in implementing this initiative.
Support for this resolution may provide a good stepping stone for the future and demonstrate principled readiness of the world community to seriously resolve those issues. In this context Turkmenistan is prepared to host in 2009 an international conference under the auspices of the United Nations devoted to this problem in Ashgabat, capital of our country.

Mr. President,

This year has witnessed an important event in the life of Central Asia which - I believe - may have a considerable positive impact on the situation in the region. I mean the commencement of the functioning of the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy in Central Asia. The inauguration of the Center gave an impetus to the new stage of strategic partnership of Central Asian countries with the United Nations in undertaking a set of measures aimed at preventing conflicts and eliminating their underlying causes.

We consider the inauguration of this Center as the testimony of the great attention that the world community devotes to the processes occurring in Central Asia, clear understanding of the role and importance of our region in global international affairs and desire to provide utmost positive assistance in tackling regional problems. In the long run this activity will be aimed at achieving long-term goals of ensuring security, stability and sustainable development of the states and peoples of Central Asian region.

Moreover, we believe that close interaction of neighboring countries is one of the most decisive factors. In this context by closely adhering to its international obligations as a permanently neutral nation, Turkmenistan stands for developing good neighborly cooperation with all the countries of the region.

In this connection Turkmenistan provides economic and humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan and actively supports efforts of the international community aimed at restoring peaceful life in this fraternal country. We would like to see Afghanistan as a peaceful and prosperous nation, a good neighbor and partner of all the states in the region.

The issue of the Caspian Sea has acquired special relevance in the context of regional stability and economic cooperation. Moreover, its comprehensive consideration envisages solution of problems relating to the establishment of an international legal basis for cooperation as well as large-scale development of geo-economic potential of the Caspian region as a major energy basin and transportation cross-roads between East and West and South and North. For some regional states that do not have direct access to international sea communications the Caspian Sea is the most important route to the world markets.

In this sense the main vector of effective activity in the Caspian Sea is directly linked to the enhancement of security in the region adjacent to the Caspian Sea. Turkmenistan advocates that the Caspian area should be a zone of peace, stability and effective international cooperation on the basis of principles of mutual respect and mutually beneficial partnership.

Mr. President,

Being an integral part of the international community Turkmenistan sees its future in developing a truly democratic society in which every individual person, his or her rights and freedoms and all-round development of his or her potential represent the main value and measure of the country's progress. Just a few days ago Turkmenistan witnessed a major political event - adoption of the new version of its Constitution which laid down the legal basis for the development of national statehood and further democratization of social life. In particular, the Constitution considerably broadens the powers of the Parliament as the main legislative body of the country. In addition to this, it expands the role of local bodies of government and self-government in whose work citizens take an active part on a broad representative basis. Democratization is a natural process of development of any state and society, and in this connection strengthening of democratic, secular and law based state is our own conscientious sovereign decision and we will steadfastly follow this course.

Foreign policy of Turkmenistan is determined by the national interests of our state and its people, and sets out as its main goal civilized development on the basis of positive integration into global political and economic processes.

Therefore, cooperation with the United Nations is the strategic direction of our foreign policy and principles enshrined in the UN Charter serve for us as the basis for the development of Turkmenistan's relations with other states.

We view the United Nations as a universal international organization serving as the main guarantor of the global security system, the framework of present and future world order. We advocate that international law, UN Charter and their principles of respect for the sovereignty of every nation and its choice of its own way of development and non-interference in the internal affairs should remain the basis of the world order and the Alpha and Omega of relations among nations.

Proceeding from this Turkmenistan determines its attitude to partnership with the United Nations and states its interest in strengthening and expanding its role in the system of international relations, especially with regard to the consolidation of the efforts of member states in ensuring peace and security on the Earth.

Thank you for attention.