Ashgabat hosted a Turkmen-Iranian business forum, timed to coincide with the official visit by President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Hassan Rouhani to Turkmenistan. Attended by representatives of the two countries’ business circles, the forum focused on identifying prospective areas of trade-economic cooperation given the national development programs and priorities of regional cooperation.
The delegation that had arrived in Ashgabat to take part in the forum included senior executives and leading specialists of government institutions, business support organizations, and 30-plus companies, producing building materials, pipes, cables, polyethylene, farm machinery, cement, plastic products as well as those operating in the textile, power, mining, pharmaceutical, trade, construction and services sectors (including utility & infrastructure, transport & logistics, and insurance companies).
Among the participating companies were “Ara Bard Gharb”, “Kavoos Stone Industry Co.”, “Dor Fak Manjil”, “Bojnord Plastic”, “Baniar Polymer Petrochemical”, “Navard Louleye Ghaem”, “Kaveh Pars Mining Ind”, “Khazar Electric”, “Iran Barak”, “Traktorsazi Iran”, “Dazi Trading”, “Sirang Tejarat Iranian”, “Mambeton Payedar Shargh”, “Azar Passillo”, “Shafi Daroo Co.”, “Tejarat Sabze Roshan”, “Iran Novin Insurance”, “Torang Darya”, and others.
Attending the forum from the Turkmen side were representatives of the key ministries and agencies, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, as well as members of the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Turkmenistan.
Opening the forum, the heads of the delegations stressed the dynamic character of cooperation based on the centuries-old bonds of friendship, good neighborliness, and historical-cultural relations. The partnership accords with the two nations’ interests and aims at the well-being and prosperity of the entire region, forum attendees highlighted.
Forum speakers noted with satisfaction the success of today’s top-level talks between Presidents Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and Hassan Rouhani.This will mark the next significant step towards a closer interstate dialogue and promote better understanding between our peoples.
The summit talks culminated in the signing of a package of bilateral documents that will facilitate the successful implementation of the current plans and working out of new joint projects.
Recognizing the considerable potential for more active and productive cooperation, Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade of the Islamic Republic of Iran Mohammad Shariatmadari and the other members of the friendly country’s delegation highlighted that the parties’ mutual desire would contribute to its realization.
Statistical data, presented at the forum, served as a testament to the rapidly-developing bilateral relations.As noted, the Islamic Republic of Iran ranked seventh in our country’s foreign trade turnover in January 2018.
According to the Ministry of Finance and Economy of Turkmenistan, 89 investment projects (with a total cost of 1310, 95 million US dollars, 0.8 million euros, and 0.81 million manats) funded by Iranian companies were registered as of February 1, 2018.
A total of 142 enterprises (of different forms of ownership) with Iranian capital are operating today in our country, including limited liability companies, subsidiary companies, representative offices, and branch offices.
The large-scale joint projects, including the Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran transnational railway, which have been now successfully completed, are notable examples of effective collaboration.
Speaking of the possibilities for closer bilateral cooperation, the forum attendees stressed the need to make full use of the potential.In this context, representatives of Iran voiced the desire of their country’s business community to strengthen the interstate relations and noted that regular joint economic forums and exchanges of delegations at different levels effectively contribute to this, having cited specialized exhibitions of the Islamic Republic of Iran and business forums, held in the Turkmen capital on a regular basis, as a striking instance.
In their presentations, Turkmen participants highlighted that strengthening partnership with interested states on the principles of mutual respect, shared benefits and healthy pragmatism is the key aspect of our country’s foreign-policy strategy, pursued by President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov.
The country’s industrialization, which involves building large innovation-based processing facilities, is regarded as the vital factor in developing the national economy.To this end, massive investment is being made in the construction of new enterprises and reconstruction of existing facilities, adoption of leading-edge technologies and novel methods of management, as well as in the gradual transition to a more market-based economy.
The main aim of the ongoing large-scale development programs is to provide quality-of-life improvements to the people of Turkmenistan by taking full advantage of the country’s huge economic potential and expanding international trade-economic relations. Newly built production facilities are designed to produce goods, which are highly competitive in foreign markets.
High macroeconomic indicators in the last few years, ever-increasing GDP growth rates, financial stability of enterprises, and improved material wellbeing of the people testify to sustainable economic growth. According to experts of reputable international organizations, Turkmenistan is continuing to progress rapidly on the path of socio-economic development.
The reforms also envision a gradual increase of the private sector’s share in gross domestic product. The Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, which recently celebrated its 10th anniversary, is today a powerful business organization, operating in a number of key sectors of the national economy, and actively participating in the country’s social and political life.
The continuing efforts in the country to develop the private sector encourage the business community’s participation in the construction of enterprises manufacturing products that are even now able to compete quality-wise with foreign products.
Today, the private sector accounts for 64.5 percent of GDP (excluding the fuel and energy sector).President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov has set a task of increasing the sector’s contribution to GNP (gross national product) to 70 percent by 2020.
In several sectors, particularly in the services sector, the indicator has already reached the target figure.
The 2030 Conception of Establishing Free Economic Zones in Turkmenistan is set to become an important practical step in stimulating investment activities.In this context, special emphasis was placed on the importance of the Law of Turkmenistan “On free economic zones”, which covers easy tax terms, exchange arrangements and customs procedures in the free economic zones.
Tackling the priority tasks in this field will ensure the regions’ accelerated development and increased export capacity in the not-to-distant future.
The execution of the plans in this sphere will enable to flood the domestic market with consumer products, create employment opportunities for the population, build modern market infrastructure, increase currency earnings, employ technologies and modern management know-how, and boost foreign investments.
Improved economic activities, in particular, foreign economic activities will strengthen the national economy’s competitiveness.In this context, the Turkmen forum attendees evinced a keen interest in the experience of Iranian partners in establishing and developing special and free economic zones.
In their turn, the neighboring country’s representatives presented a general overview of Iran’s economic trends.The guests highly praised our country’s open and efficient investment policy, pursued by the head of Turkmenistan, and expressed the business community’s strong interest in promoting the productive relations.
Having declared their willingness to actively participate in the large national projects, Iranian companies put forward concrete proposals to enhance cooperation in various areas.
Concluding the forum, the attendees reaffirmed the dynamic character of bilateral relations, built upon mutual trust and shared benefits, and highlighted the importance of holding regular meetings to outline a clear common vision for further productive cooperation.
As part of the forum, meetings were organized between representatives of the two neighboring countries’ institutions and business circles to discuss topical issues, identified by the leaders of Turkmenistan and Iran during the top-level talks, as well as to develop new joint projects.