Turkmenistan is in favor of intensifying activities to identify and eliminate barriers in the transport-communication sphere of the Caspian littoral states, Hojamyrat Geldimyradov, the Deputy Chairman of Government in charge of economic and financial issues, said during his speech at the plenary session of the Second Caspian Economic Forum (CEF) at the Skolkovo center in Moscow on Thursday, the TASS news agency reports.
In addition to the Turkmen Vice-Premier, the plenary session was held with the participation of Prime Minister of Russia Mikhail Mishustin, Prime Minister of Azerbaijan Ali Asadov, Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Alikhan Smailov, First Vice President Iran Mohammad Mohber.
"Important, in our opinion, is the practical implementation of the agreement entered into force between the governments of the Caspian states on cooperation in the field of transport, signed in Aktau on August 12, 2018,” Geldimyradov said, adding that, “In this regard, we consider it important to expand multilateral transport cooperation, as well as to intensify work on identifying and removing barriers in the transport and communication sphere, to intensify promotion of opening and development of new transport and logistics corridors in order to increase communications potential."
The Vice-Premier stated that Turkmenistan pays special attention to the transport sphere as an intensively developing and promising segment of the national economy.
The Leaders of the Caspian countries (Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan) made the decision to establish the CEF at a summit on August 12, 2018 in Aktau. The First Caspian Economic Forum was held on August 12, 2019 in Avaza National Tourist Zone on the Turkmen coast of the Caspian Sea.
The II Caspian Economic Forum took place on October 5-6 in Skolkovo. It was attended by over a thousand delegates, not only from the Caspian countries, but also from Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan.
The forum discussed such issues as the implementation of joint projects in the field of transport infrastructure, energy, environmental protection, as well as the development of inter-regional cooperation and cultural and humanitarian ties. The II Caspian Economic Forum resulted in the adoption of a joint communiqué.
The Third Caspian Economic Forum will be held in Iran in 2023.