EBRD meeting puts focus on Central Asia, NGOs

President Lemierre at his press conference after the Annual Meeting: “We had a specific goal this year to open the debate to civil society." The EBRD’s 12th annual meeting was an achievement in putting the focus on Central Asia and in bringing non-governmental organizations together for open dialogue with the Bank, government, business guests and the media, says EBRD President Jean Lemierre. “We are used to very open debate among officials and the business community,” said Lemierre at his closing press conference Monday. “We had a specific goal this year to open the debate to civil society. We have achieved quite a lot. The number of representatives (228) of civil society is the highest we’ve ever had at an annual meeting. Most of them were from Central Asia. I had very good and useful discussions with NGOs. All of them warmly welcomed the meeting here in Tashkent”, capital of the Central Asian republic of Uzbekistan. “Here in Central Asia and Uzbekistan we are at a new frontier of transition,” said Mr Lemierre. He explained the presidents of the four Central Asian republics and their officials had repeatedly heard messages regarding the political and economic transition necessary to move toward market economies and democracy. Particular concerns were human rights, cross-border trade and other aspects of regional cooperation. He noted that Uzbekistan has a year to demonstrate progress, to be assessed against seven benchmarks established in the latest EBRD Country Strategy for Uzbekistan. Among these political and economic benchmarks is the requirement that Uzbekistan implement the report of the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture who said the country’s leadership must publicly condemn torture.