BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

27/07/2007

Turkmenistan and Belarus draw up cooperation plans

Yesterday, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov received members of a Belarus government delegation headed by Deputy prime vinister Alexander Kasinets, the Turkmen State News Agency (TDH) reports. Alexander Kasinets handed over to the President of Turkmenistan President Alexander Lukashenka's invitation to visit Belarus.

According to Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, the two countries have established very close and productive interstate dialog over the last years the foundation of which was laid down by the first president of Turkmenistan, Saparmurat Niyazov, and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenka. The steady growth in trade testifies to the high level of bilateral relations. It has increased 14 times to US $ 57 mln lately. In this regard, the president of Turkmenistan said that just before the start of the meeting he signed a document on the establishment of an interstate commission and approved its composition from the Turkmen side.

In their turn, representatives of Belarus proposed to open trade and logistics centers in Ashgabat and Minsk that would help expand and strengthen trade relations as well as advertisement of goods.

During discussions about possible areas of further partnership, the sides noted, first of all, cooperation in the fuel and energy sector. "Belarus is very interested in Turkmen energy carriers and can offer the most advanced technologies in this respect. It is also ready to work in Turkmenistan by setting up joint ventures," Alexander Kasinets said. The Turkmen president invited Belarusian partners to join the ongoing intense development of the richest oil and gas deposits in the Turkmen part of the Caspian Sea and onshore areas on the basis of production sharing.

The education sphere was defined as no less important area of cooperation. In this context, Belarusian vice-premier said that his delegation included rectors of the agricultural university and one of the largest technical universities who are ready to discuss all necessary issues. "Each of 53 Belarusian higher educational establishments would be delighted to admit Turkmen students and open their branches in Turkmenistan," the guest said. In relation to the establishment of the national tourist zone on the Caspian Sea the sides discussed prospects for training skilled specialists for the spheres of city planning and tourism. Apart from that, there are prospects for cooperation in relation to the opening of the agricultural university in Dashoguz to train specialists for the agricultural-industrial complex. As is known, two countries have established contacts in the sphere of agriculture, in particular, in supplies of equipment that had proved successful in Turkmenistan's conditions.

In the context of establishing cooperation in the city planning sphere, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow told his guest that a tender to build a cement plant in Turkmenistan would be announced soon, and invited Belarusian partners to take part in it. In turn, Alexander Kasinets said that Belarus was ready to supply timber and other construction materials to Turkmenistan.

During the talks, the issue of launching flights between the two capitals was also discussed. The Turkmen president proposed opening a direct air route between Ashgabat and Minsk, and instructed relevant officials to deal with this issue as soon as possible, the TDH reports. Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov also proposed to arrange for vacation of Belarusian children in newly built children's recreation centers near Ashgabat.

Cooperation in the sphere of sport was paid particular attention. As Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov noted, Turkmenistan has built a lot of sport facilities, including an ice palace where skilled Belarusian coaches could work and train the Olympic teams. Speaking about importance of establishing contacts in the cultural sphere, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov expressed gratitude to the Belarusian side for taking active part in Turkmenistan's art festivals. During the meeting the sides agreed to hold days of Belarusian culture in Turkmenistan in 2008 and days of Turkmenistan culture in Belarus in 2009.

"We have discussed practically all spheres of cooperation, Alexander Kasinets said in an interview with TDH, having praised the results of talks with President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov. We intend to establish a large-scale cooperation with Turkmenistan in the name of further prosperity of two friendly peoples."

On the same day, Turkmen-Belarusian interstate talks were held in the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan. Issues of preparation of bilateral documents designed to take the interstate dialog to a qualitatively new level were discussed during the talks. Meetings in the Ministry of economy and finance and in the Ashgabat's mayor office are scheduled for tomorrow. The Belarusian guests will visit large sport facilities, museums, textile enterprises as well as trade centers of the Turkmen capital.

Source:

http://www.turkmenistan.ru/?page_id=3&lang_id=en&elem_id=10658&type=event&sort=date_desc

Google