The initiative to apply for Turkmenistan’s nomination for the membership in ECOSOC belongs to President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov. Addressing the 66th session of the UN General Assembly, the Turkmen leader emphasized that the election of Turkmenistan to ECOSOC was an immediate task on the agenda of international priorities of our country.
The active work Turkmenistan is carrying out in the UN bodies, commissions and programmes has contributed to Turkmenistan’s membership in ECOSOC. Turkmenistan was elected Vice Chair of the ECE Committee on Sustainable Energy Bureau and the Chair of the United Nations Special Programme for the Economies of Central Asia (SPECA) and to the UN Commission on Population and Development, the Commission on Narcotic Drugs and the Executive Committee of the High Commissioner's Programme.
Turkmenistan’s outstanding achievements in the social and economic spheres have played a critical role in electing Turkmenistan to ECOSOC. According to the World Bank, Turkmenistan’s economic growth, which has been 11 percent on average over the past five years, has led to a rapid GDP per capita growth. GDP has doubled since 2007, and risen three times since 2005. This year, this figure in Turkmenistan has exceeded the threshold for upper middle income countries.
In recent years, the State budget of Turkmenistan has had the surplus. As of 2011, it constituted 3.6 percent of GDP. This year, the budget surplus is also significant. Basically, it is ensured through increased tax revenues. In 2011, budget revenues rose 1.5 times, as compared to 2010.
The social orientation of budget expenditures has been preserved over the past few years – over 75 percent of budgetary funds are allotted to support the social sector and implement the National Programme of the President of Turkmenistan for improvement of the social and living conditions in villages, settlements, towns in etraps and etrap centres for the period to 2020. In Turkmenistan, salaries, pensions, welfare payments and student grants rise 10 percent on average each year. Electricity, natural gas, water, table salt are provided free of charge to the population; 120 litres of gasoline are provided free of charge to owners of private motor cars each month.
Turkmenistan’s membership in the United Nations Economic and Social Council for 2013-2015, on the one hand, provides ample opportunities to initiate and implement new ideas and, on the other, lays great responsibility on the Turkmen state for elaborating and making decisions. Turkmenistan as a member of this principal UN organ implicitly recognizing the authority and leading role of the United Nations as the main guarantor in maintaining and strengthening global peace and security intends to foster international cooperation and use its peace-building potential to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
The active work Turkmenistan is carrying out in the UN bodies, commissions and programmes has contributed to Turkmenistan’s membership in ECOSOC. Turkmenistan was elected Vice Chair of the ECE Committee on Sustainable Energy Bureau and the Chair of the United Nations Special Programme for the Economies of Central Asia (SPECA) and to the UN Commission on Population and Development, the Commission on Narcotic Drugs and the Executive Committee of the High Commissioner's Programme.
Turkmenistan’s outstanding achievements in the social and economic spheres have played a critical role in electing Turkmenistan to ECOSOC. According to the World Bank, Turkmenistan’s economic growth, which has been 11 percent on average over the past five years, has led to a rapid GDP per capita growth. GDP has doubled since 2007, and risen three times since 2005. This year, this figure in Turkmenistan has exceeded the threshold for upper middle income countries.
In recent years, the State budget of Turkmenistan has had the surplus. As of 2011, it constituted 3.6 percent of GDP. This year, the budget surplus is also significant. Basically, it is ensured through increased tax revenues. In 2011, budget revenues rose 1.5 times, as compared to 2010.
The social orientation of budget expenditures has been preserved over the past few years – over 75 percent of budgetary funds are allotted to support the social sector and implement the National Programme of the President of Turkmenistan for improvement of the social and living conditions in villages, settlements, towns in etraps and etrap centres for the period to 2020. In Turkmenistan, salaries, pensions, welfare payments and student grants rise 10 percent on average each year. Electricity, natural gas, water, table salt are provided free of charge to the population; 120 litres of gasoline are provided free of charge to owners of private motor cars each month.
Turkmenistan’s membership in the United Nations Economic and Social Council for 2013-2015, on the one hand, provides ample opportunities to initiate and implement new ideas and, on the other, lays great responsibility on the Turkmen state for elaborating and making decisions. Turkmenistan as a member of this principal UN organ implicitly recognizing the authority and leading role of the United Nations as the main guarantor in maintaining and strengthening global peace and security intends to foster international cooperation and use its peace-building potential to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.