Tokayev: Idea of moving UN Headquarters to Asia to be widely discussed in member-countries

ASTANA. KAZINFORM "The idea of shifting the UN Headquarters to Asia is, undoubtedly, interesting and will be discussed widely in the UN member countries," Chairman of the Senate of the Kazakh Parliament Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev said answering question from ‘Liter' Newspaper.

"To date, the UN requires restructuring provided that its preserves all the best it has. Even the Europeans visiting Asia admit that it has turned into the dynamic global development centre. Nursultan Nazarbayev tactfully proposed the global community to discuss this idea, realizing that its implementation will require huge funds and time. But this idea, undoubtedly, is interesting and will be widely discussed in the capital cities of the UN member states. Opening the UN Headquarters in New York became possible after the agreement reached between Stalin and Roosevelt. Later the decision was disputed with some experts saying that the main office of the UN should have been located in one of European countries, such as Switzerland, Austria or Sweden. The proposition to move it to Asia is an absolutely new and interesting one," Tokayev said. According to him, the activity of Ban Ki-moon on the post of the UN Secretary General also proves the growing role of "Asian component" in global situation as stated by our President"