OREANDA-NEWS. September 08, 2014. Opportunities for development of alternative energy and participation of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in EXPO 2017 were presented at a special session of the 3rd International Conference on Small Island Developing States under the sponsorship of the United Nations.

The event, entitled "Future Energy for Small Island Developing States", organized jointly by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, JSC "National Company" EXPO 2017" and UNESCAP, was attended by Gian Chandra Acharya, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States, Shamshad Akhtar, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the heads of delegations of many island states.

As the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Erlan Idrissov noted in his speech at the opening session, "its purpose is to identify new opportunities for creative partnerships to assist SIDS on the basis of an analysis of various factors that influence development, not least in the energy sector."

After describing the current state and prospects of Kazakhstan's energy, E. Idrissov said that "Kazakhstan fully supports the initiative of the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon "Sustainable Energy for All" and takes appropriate measures to achieve its goals at national level."

Minister highlighted such initiatives of the country as Partnership Program "Green Bridge" and organization of international specialized exhibition "EXPO 2017" in Astana. According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, these initiatives offer rare opportunities for cooperation between Kazakhstan and Small Island Developing States, aimed at ensuring their sustainable development.

According to Mr. Akhtar, "Kazakhstan 2050 Strategy is a document that clearly defines the ways and mechanisms of development of the country, which gives us confidence that these goals will be achieved. And it is important that Kazakhstan has made a great contribution to development of other countries and implementation of the principle of the most effective communication of states (connectivity), and is a very worthy partner of ESCAP and other international organizations."

According to a senior official of the United Nations, being an energy-rich state, while seeking to develop "green" energy, Kazakhstan can play an important role in assisting SIDS in finding solutions to their problems.

In turn, Gian Chandra Acharya noted that "the cost of energy in the Pacific region is and will definitely be the highest in the world, which is why it is difficult to overestimate the relevance of the search for comprehensive solutions to energy problems in the region and contribution of Kazakhstan in this process."

During the meeting, the sides exchanged views on possibilities of establishing practical cooperation in the context of preparation for EXPO 2017, which, according to E. Idrissov, will present "a unique opportunity to comprehensively address the problems of sustainable development of all countries, and to find ways to address them, including by development of various energy sources."

The director of the department preparing for the exhibition of JSC "EXPO 2017" Serik Amirov presented more information about the upcoming show and the opportunities arising from the session to the participants. It was noted that more than 100 countries and 10 international organizations are expected to participate in the exhibition.

On the same day, there were held the meetings of the Kazakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the heads of delegations at the conference from such countries as Tonga, Nauru, Kiribati, Sao Tome and Principe, and the Marshall Islands. The sides discussed issues of cooperation within the UN framework, including application of Kazakhstan for a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2017-2018.

Specific areas of cooperation, including in the area of capacity building of this organization of the UN system to address the problems of supervised States and ESCAP’s participation in the program "Green Bridge" and preparation for EXPO 2017 were considered during separate meeting of Kazakh Foreign Affairs Minister with Executive Secretary of the UN ESCAPShamshad Akhtar.