Turkmenistan considers promoting the expansion of comprehensive partnership opportunities among the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) member countries in the economic, trade, industrial, energy, transport-communications and cultural-humanitarian spheres, President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said during his speech in the 14th ECO Summit, which was held virtually on Thursday.
During the Summit, the chairmanship of the ECO passed from Turkey to Turkmenistan, the country’s official media reports.
“We plan to conduct concrete work with partners to create conditions for further intensification of trade and economic relations between our countries, increasing the volume and diversification of trade,” President Berdimuhamedov said.
“To this end, Turkmenistan proposes to start working on the creation of economic routes in the ECO region, which we regard as the main stable system that ensures the movement of goods and services, the development of investments,” President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov continued, outlining industrial cooperation, the consolidation of production and technological potential, and the implementation of large joint infrastructure projects as the key economic areas of cooperation.
According to the Turkmen Leader, the creation of transport corridors and logistics centers has acquired particular relevance. In this regard, the Head of State noted the importance of intensification of the ECO’s projects and the promotion of the most promising models and directions in this area.
Turkmen President also called for focusing on combined transit-transport corridors along the East-West route, from the Asia-Pacific region to the European part of the continent and towards the Middle East.
The Head of State also proposed to expand cooperation in the Caspian Sea region as four of the five Caspian littoral countries are ECO members, adding “we must actively move through the Caspian in the western and northern directions, reach the ports of the Black and Baltic seas.”
Touching upon the Afghan topic, Berdimuhamedov noted that in the close integration of Afghanistan in regional and continental economic cooperation, as a participant in significant joint projects in the industrial, energy, transport, communication and logistics areas, Turkmenistan sees a strategic opportunity for Kabul with great prospects.
Concluding his speech, the Head of State proposed to hold the next ECO Summit in Ashgabat on November 28, 2021 - on ECO Day, and invited his foreign colleagues to visit the capital of Turkmenistan to participate in the Summit.
The 14th ECO Summit gathered Presidents of Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, the Prime Minister of Pakistan and the secretaries general of the ECO, the Turkic Council and the Energy Charter.