HISTORIC AGREEMENT SIGNED ON TUMEN RIVER AREA DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
Press Release
DEV/2080
HISTORIC AGREEMENT SIGNED ON TUMEN RIVER AREA DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
19951206 NEW YORK, 6 December (UNDP) -- Key senior officials of the People's Republic of China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Mongolia, the Republic of Korea and the Russian Federation signed three agreements at the United Nations today to develop the Tumen River Economic Development Area. The agreements will establish the first inter-governmental organizations for development in Northeast Asia.James Gustave Speth, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) hosted the event, which was followed by a press conference. Mr. Speth said that he wanted the project to be a model of people-centred, environmentally sustainable development, with particular benefits to the poor and jobless in the region.
The signatories to the agreements were the Permanent Representative to the United Nations of the People's Republic of China, Qin Huasun; the Vice Chairman of the State External Economic Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Kim Jong U; the Deputy Chairman of the National Development Board of Mongolia, Lkhagvaa Demberel; the Assistant Minister for International Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance and Economy, of the Republic of Korea, Myong Ho Shin; and Nikolaj Zakhmatov, Member of the Board of the Ministry of External Economic Relations, and Director of the Department of Economic Cooperation with European and North American countries of the Russian Federation.
The historic signing of the international agreements of the Tumen River Area Development Programme marked three years of quiet diplomacy between UNDP and the Governments of the five countries. The UNDP facilitated the negotiations, which assisted in dramatically changing the environment for investment and development in the region. The five partner countries have been working in close consultation with one another for mutual and reciprocal benefits in the political, social, economic and international arenas. The Tumen area has 150 million people and is close to some of the world's richest markets, Japan and the Republic of Korea. The UNDP contributed over $4 million to the initial phase of the Programme.
- 2 - Press Release DEV/2080 6 December 1995
To date, much has been done to promote trade and investment in the area. Highlights include:
-- a surge in investments, including $942 million for industrial projects agreed to at a recent investment forum in China, with participation from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Russia;
-- the linkup of the Chinese Jilin Province railways with the Russian rail system and port facilities;
-- upgrading of the rail, road and port systems in northern Democratic People's Republic of Korea and connecting them to the Jilin rail and road systems; and
-- improving highways in Russia, especially from Kraskino to the Hunchun border area.
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