On December 17, 2020, inter-MFA consultations between Turkmenistan and the Kingdom of Belgium were held in the format of a videoconference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan.
The Turkmen delegation was headed by Deputy Foreign Minister V.Hajiyev, informs the web-site of the MFA of Turkmenistan.The delegation of Belgium was led by Director General for Bilateral Relations of the Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Kingdom of Belgium, Anick Van Calster.
During the talks, the parties discussed the current state and priority vectors of cooperation in political, trade-economic and humanitarian spheres.The diplomats discussed the pandemic situation in the world and in the region, taking into consideration the repercussions of it.
Turkmen delegation informed the participants about the preventive measures adopted in Turkmenistan on counteracting the emergence of acute infectious diseases with the account of recommendations of the World Health Organization.
It was stated that the Extraordinary Commission on combatting the spread of diseases is actively working in the country, as well as the national plans are adopted, including the Preparedness and Response Plan of Turkmenistan for an Acute Infectious Disease.
In this regard, the initiative of the President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov on expanding the international cooperation and applying the scientific diplomacy tools for enhancing the healthcare systems and overcoming the emergency situations in the world was underlined.
The issues of activating the energy dialogue were discussed.The mutual interest in strengthening cooperation in the area of energy was expressed.It was underlined that Turkmenistan actively works on the diversification of energy partnership.
Special emphasis is placed on the situation in Afghanistan.Along with the international community, Turkmenistan and Belgium stand for the reestablishment of peace and stability in this country.
In this regard, the efforts of Turkmenistan to contribute to the intra-Afghan negotiation process were highlighted.The importance of the construction of the gas pipeline Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India, power and fiber-optic communication lines on Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan route, building of the railway lines from Turkmenistan to Afghanistan was emphasized.
The need to intensify activities to expand trade and economic cooperation through the creation of new interaction mechanisms was emphasized.An exchange of views took place on the possibilities of bringing cooperation to a qualitatively new level by organizing, on a systematic basis, consultations between the profile organizations of two countries.
The issues related to the development of the legal framework were discussed distinctly.The diplomats agreed to continue active dialogue aimed at the development of friendly Turkmen-Belgian relations.