December 18, 2019, Dushanbe Plaza

Opening Remarks by

Dr. Pratibha Mehta,

UN Resident Coordinator a.i.

Dear Ms. Anvari, Deputy Chairman of the State Committee on Investments and State Property Management of RT,

Distinguished Government partners,

UN colleagues, development partners,

Ladies and gentlemen,

I would like to thank the State Committee on Investments and State Property Management, and UNECE for organizing this joint event.

We all know the importance of PPPs in the development process and now it is even more critical in the context of implementation of complex set of SDGs.

The National Development Strategy of Tajikistan envisages increased role of the private sector in social and economic and environmental development of the country.

To achieve the scale of SDGs, ambition would require building new partnership and mobilizing investments to deliver public services; to enable countries and achieve self-sufficiency in energy, ensuring city development infrastructure and for climate mitigation.

However, we need to acknowledge that not all PPPs are based on Sustainable Development principles and are not designed to ensure environmental sustainability, contributing to decent jobs, especially for poor and resulting in equitable and sustainable outcomes.

UNECE has developed new guidelines for PPPs that put “People-first” their needs at the core of PPP projects.

In 2018, UN and the Government of Tajikistan conducted a rapid assessment of development for SDGs. One of the recommendations was also to enhance partnerships with the private sector and use PPPs as an instrument for delivering public services but this would require reforms and capacity building.

Dear colleagues,

Next year would be five years to the adoption of the SDGs and 2020-2030 will be the Decade of Action to accelerate progress on SDGs in all countries, including Tajikistan.

I hope that this workshop will be an opportunity to discuss concrete actions required to boost people centric public-private partnerships in the next decade, so as to contribute in measurable progress in the achievement of SDGs in inclusive and sustainable manner.

I wish you all a very successful round table.