Today, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov received the Secretary General of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Khusraw Noziri.

Expressing sincere gratitude to the head of state for the opportunity to meet personally, the guest noted the significant contribution of Turkmenistan to strengthening a constructive partnership in the ECO format. As was emphasized, by consistently implementing a creative foreign policy, our country demonstrates a responsible approach to issues of regional and international cooperation.

President Serdar Berdimuhamedov noted that the current visit of the ECO Secretary General to Ashgabat includes participation in the International Conference “Main directions and potential for tourism development in Turkmenistan”. This forum is designed to reveal the tourism opportunities of our country and expand the geography of international cooperation in this area. Having wished Mr. Khusraw Noziri fruitful participation in the conference and meaningful negotiations within its framework, the head of state expressed confidence that the results of the visit will contribute to the development of traditional cooperation between Turkmenistan and the ECO, including in the above-mentioned area.

Continuing the meeting, an interested exchange of views took place on the prospects for multifaceted interaction between Turkmenistan and the ECO. It was noted that the positive experience of joint work accumulated over the past years serves as a reliable basis here. In this regard, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov emphasized that, advocating further intensification of productive cooperation within the Organization, our country seeks to contribute to increasing the efficiency of the activities of this multilateral structure.

During the conversation, it was stated that the ECO member states have great opportunities to build up mutually beneficial partnerships. This primarily concerns interaction in the trade and economic sphere, as well as in the cultural and humanitarian field, in the area of ecology and tourism. As noted, for its part, Turkmenistan intends to continue to promote effective cooperation in the ECO format through the implementation of joint projects and programs.

In this context, the energy sector was named one of the priority areas. Possessing huge reserves of natural gas, our country is ready to significantly diversify its supplies, including to consumers and transit countries in the ECO space.

Transport was identified as another important vector of interaction. It was noted that, based on its favorable geographical location, Turkmenistan attaches great importance to the development and use of transport and logistics hubs as a key area of economic cooperation with foreign partners. In this regard, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov invited the ECO to more actively participate in the implementation of the transit opportunities of our country, using such transport corridors as North-South and East-West.

Having highly appreciated the proactive position of Turkmenistan in strengthening friendly relations and equal mutually beneficial partnership in the ECO space, the guest expressed sincere gratitude to the head of state for the opportunity to take part in the international conference held in Ashgabat on the tourism potential of our country, as well as in events on the occasion of the proclamation of the city Anau will become the cultural capital of the Turkic world in 2024.

At the end of the meeting, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov and ECO Secretary General Khusrav Noziri, reaffirming the commitment of Turkmenistan and the Economic Cooperation Organization to traditional constructive dialogue, expressed confidence in the further progressive development of fruitful interaction that meets the goals of common well-being.