The delegation of Turkmenistan, led by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Serdar Berdimuhamedov took part in the High-Level Political Forum under the aegis of the UN Economic and Social Council. The forum on sustainable development was held in New York.
The high-level political forum on the Transformation towards sustainable and resilient societies brought together the government representatives of the UN member states, the private sector and civil society.
This year, the meeting participants have focused on a wide spectrum of issues on the Sustainable Development Goals, including the important social problems, efficient water management, the access to reliable, stable and modern energy sources, the maintenance of security and vital capacity of cities and settlements, the efficient models of consumption and production, as well as environment issues.
In the framework of the visit of the delegation of Turkmenistan to New York, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Serdar Berdimuhamedov had a meeting with in UN Secretary General António Guterres in the United Nations Headquarters. The meeting participants emphasized the close and constructive character of the bilateral cooperation in various spheres.
The UN Secretary General underlined the role of Turkmenistan in such issues as safety and security, refugees, migration, support to the work of the UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia.
It was also underlined the successful work of our country on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy on the regional and national levels, widening cooperation with the countries in the region on the important for the world community aspects.
During the visit to New York, the delegation of Turkmenistan held a number of bilateral meetings with the high-ranking representatives of the UN Organisation and the heads of the leading UN structures, took part in the side-event “SDGs Implementation in countries of Central Asia”, organized by the UNDP, the European Union, the Permanent Missions of Slovakia and Serbia to the United Nations.
With regard to the forum agenda, it should be noted that our country significantly contributes to the regional and global cooperation in such interconnected areas as sustainable management of water resources and ecology, which are an integral factor of sustainable development.
That is vividly proved by the constructive initiatives, put forward by President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov at the sessions of the UN General Assembly, the Rio + 20 Summit, the III United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai, the Seventh World Water Forum in Daegu, and the International High-Level Conference on International Decade for Action, “Water for Sustainable Development”, 2018-2028 in Dushanbe.
Among them are proposals on opening of a Regional Center for Technologies on climate change in Central Asia in Ashgabat, on the development of the UN Water Strategy, as well as the UN Special Program for the Aral Sea Basin and the allocation of Aral issues to a separate area of the United Nations, on establishment of a specialized UN water structure for Central Asia.
In view of the above, the UN General Assembly Resolution "Cooperation between the United Nations and the International Fund for Saving the Aral" that was unanimously adopted in April this year on the initiative of Turkmenistan, currently presiding in IFAS, is of great importance.
President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov constantly emphasizes the compatibility and complementarity of national, regional and global instruments for achieving the SDG. The policy pursued by the head of state in the social, economic and environmental spheres is directly linked to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The initiatives that the Turkmen leader put forward from the UN rostrum were widely supported by the world community and adopted in the framework of the Resolutions of the UN General Assembly.
Possessing huge reserves of hydrocarbon raw materials, Turkmenistan has repeatedly initiated large-scale projects with the aim to bring the trade and economic partnership between the Central Asia states and neighboring regions to a qualitatively new level.
Among them is the construction of the TAPI gas pipeline, which will allow not only to increase the export potential of the domestic fuel and energy complex, but will also contribute to the revitalization of the socio-economic infrastructure of neighboring Afghanistan and its integration into the current system of the global economic relations, strengthening the energy security and economic stability in the region, and creating new prospects for development of fruitful cooperation.
Our country initiated a number of projects in the transport sector, including the creation of the international transit and transport corridors along the North-South and East-West directions. Their implementation opens up huge opportunities for optimizing transport flows in the Eurasian space, imparts new incentives to interregional and intercontinental connections with a long-term perspective.
These ambitious projects stand as the specific contribution of Turkmenistan to the development of the global transport and logistics infrastructure, the revival of the Great Silk Road.In the modern era, the legendary ancient route, which run through the Turkmen land centuries ago, is revived in a new quality, building up the trade-economic, humanitarian-cultural cooperation between states and peoples.
Thus, taking an active part in the overall efforts to achieve the sustainable development goals, proclaimed by the United Nations, neutral Turkmenistan in fact reaffirms its commitment to the closest partnership with the United Nations, striving to promote further strengthening of effective cooperation to ensure peace and stability, social and economic progress in the regional and the global level.