Turkmen officials held talks with the head of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Representative Office in Ashgabat Fatih Turkmenoglu at the Ministry of Finance and Economy of Turkmenistan on Monday. During the meeting, the sides discussed issues of financing small business projects, including in new areas for Turkmen businesses.
The meeting was attended by the Minister of Finance and Economy of Turkmenistan Muhammetgeldi Serdarov, heads of the relevant departments of the ministry and representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, the Ashgabat-based Orient news outlet reports.
The sides also discussed the prospects of the EBRD's participation in municipal projects in Turkmenistan and assistance in the development of financial markets in the country.
The participants noted that in recent years, cooperation between Turkmenistan and the EBRD has significantly intensified in the non-state sector of the economy. The Bank has financed a number of projects of the members of the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Turkmenistan in different fields.
Fatih Turkmenoglu expressed the bank's readiness to expand cooperation in order to promote business development through financial and consulting services, and to build a stable and open market economy.
One of the key strategic priorities of the EBRD in Turkmenistan is to support private sector development. Since the beginning of the EBRD's operations in the country, the bank has signed 80 projects with a total aggregate volume of banking investments of €292 million.