On December 10, 2022, the Fifth Central Asian Expert Forum "Actual aspects of regional cooperation on climate change, water use, food security and information and communication technologies in the Central Asian region" was held in the Turkmen capital.
The event was organized by the Scientific Center for Strategic Studies of the Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan with the assistance of the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia.
The purpose of the event is to discuss topical issues of ensuring regional cooperation, development of common strategic approaches, practical proposals and recommendations for the governments of the states of the region in agreed areas by the leading experts of the Central Asian countries.
The regular meeting was attended by heads and experts of the Institutes for Strategic Studies of the Central Asian States, heads and representatives of diplomatic missions, UNRCCA, faculty and students of the IMO MFA, and media representatives.
The forum program included three sessions: "Cooperation in combating climate change in Central Asia in the light of the decisions of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), water cooperation in the Aral Sea Basin", "Issues of food security in the Central Asian region", " Problems of ensuring security in the field of information and communication technologies”.
During the meeting, the measures taken in the countries of Central Asia to mitigate the effects of climate change, and the possibility of attracting the resources of international financial institutions, in particular, the UN Green Climate Fund (GCF), were discussed.
The importance of analyzing the emerging realities, identifying priority areas for mutually beneficial cooperation based on a thorough and critical study of the key processes of regional development and trends in interstate relations, and achieving concrete results that can make the CA region more secure, stable and prosperous was noted.
Speaking about integrated approaches to protecting cyberspace, ensuring information security at the national and regional levels, the participants noted that at present all countries of the region have adopted and are implementing their own strategic and conceptual documents aimed at developing the digital society, as well as countering cyber threats.
In conclusion, the participants expressed their sincere gratitude to President Serdar Berdimuhamedov for his support in holding this forum at a high level, noting with satisfaction that it would give an important impetus to the further development of cooperation between the countries of Central Asia in addressing topical regional issues.
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Turkmenistan is represented at the regional meeting on trade facilitation in Central Asia
The Turkmen delegation took part in the 9th regional meeting of the National Committees on Trade Facilitation in Central Asia in Tashkent. This is reported by the website of the State Customs Service of Turkmenistan.
The central theme of the event, organized within the framework of the project of the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), was the discussion of trade facilitation issues. In particular, initiatives to digitalize trade procedures and improve access to information for the private sector were considered.
In this regard, representatives of the World Trade Center familiarized the participants with the work of Trading Portal, which was recently established in Turkmenistan.
Representatives of the State Customs Service of Turkmenistan together with experts of the International Union of Road Transport and employees of the State Customs Committee under the Ministry of Finance and Economy of Uzbekistan also visited the customs post "Yallama" on the Uzbek-Kazakh border.
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On February 21, 2023, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan R.Meredov received Natalya Gherman, who is completing her mission as the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Central Asia, Head of the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA).
During the meeting, the commitment of Turkmenistan to strategic cooperation with the United Nations and its specialized agencies was confirmed.
During the meeting, an exchange of views took place on priority areas of cooperation between our country and the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia. This cooperation, first of all, is distinguished by its effectiveness.
In this regard, the importance of the creative initiatives put forward by the President of Turkmenistan in various fields was emphasized. The Head of the foreign policy agency of Turkmenistan noted that the mechanisms of multilateral preventive diplomacy, such as the Academy of Preventive Diplomacy initiative and the Women's Dialogue of Central Asian countries, have been created and are successfully operating.
Sincere gratitude was also expressed to Natalya Gherman, who is completing her work as the head of the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Central Asia, for her activities, which contributed to the development and strengthening of cooperation between Turkmenistan and the United Nations. Words of congratulations were expressed in connection with her appointment as the Executive Director of the Executive Directorate of the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee and wishes of success in the new responsible post.
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“Democracy: A new hope?” is the theme of this year’s World Forum for Democracy, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary. The event, taking place from 7 to 9 November at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, will bring together intellectuals, politicians, activists, experts and young people from all over the world to discuss the factors contributing to democratic decline and how these can be addressed.
Many leading public figures will participate in this year’s event: Katrin Jakobsdóttir, Prime Minister of Iceland and Simon Coveney, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ireland will each give a special address; Salome Zurabishvili, President of Georgia, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, leader of the Belarusian democratic movement, Olivier Véran, French Government Spokesperson and Minister for Democratic Renewal, Olexander Kornienko, Deputy Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament and Lucian Romaşcanu, Minister of Culture of Romania, as well as Club of Madrid members, the former President of Mongolia, Tsakhia Elbegdorj, and the former President of Chile, Ricardo Lagos, will all participate in the opening day of the Forum.
Ten lab sessions, which will address the challenges from different angles and present some measures which have already been put into practice, will help to identify a democratic response to the issues raised throughout the Forum. On Wednesday 9 November the Council of Europe Democracy Innovation Award will be presented to the most popular initiative presented in the labs.
The programme also includes a series of Forum talks on Youth to the Rescue?; History and Education – Knowledge and Manipulation; Persuasion or Polarisation?; Discrimination and Privilege – Are Inequalities Unravelling Our Societies?; Corruption and Accountability – Keeping Faith in Democracy; Deliberation: a Booster for Democracy?; The Missed Opportunity of Democracy in Russia; and the Impact of Impunity on Journalism and Democracy.
The Forum is organised by the Council of Europe in partnership with Strasbourg City Council, the European Collectivity of Alsace, the Grand Est Region and the French Government. Since 2012, the World Forum for Democracy has become an annual opportunity for citizens around the world to reflect on democracy, to analyse its shortcomings and limitations, but also to generate new ideas to respond to the challenges facing democracy.
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The head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov took part in the 15th Cooperation Forum "Central Asia - the Republic of Korea", which was held on Tuesday, October 25, in the city of Pusan.
Speaking at the forum, Rashid Meredov noted that "the main task today is the solidarity of the countries of Central Asia and the Republic of Korea in maintaining universal long-term peace and stability," according to the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan.
According to Meredov, in modern conditions "the role of political and diplomatic interaction between our countries is growing, establishing a regular and open exchange of views on issues of mutual interest," the press service of the Foreign Ministry notes.
Meredov drew the attention of the Korean side to the great potential for cooperation in high-tech industries, including telecommunications and space, in water desalination projects.
As a result of the meeting, the Joint Statement of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and the Work Plan of the Secretariat of the Central Asia-Republic of Korea Cooperation Forum for 2023 were adopted.
On the sidelines of the forum, Rashid Meredov met with Pusan Mayor Pak Hyeong-Jun, discussing with him the possibilities of developing relations between the seaports of Turkmenbashi and Pusan, exchanging experience in the field of port management, and in the future - establishing sister city relations between them.
Issues of promoting partnerships in the fields of information and digital technologies, transport and communications, shipbuilding, water and forestry, architecture and urban planning were considered.
Rashid Meredov also met with his South Korean counterpart Pak Jin. The head of the Turkmen Foreign Ministry said that Turkmenistan, with a sense of gratitude and high responsibility, takes over the chairmanship of the Forum and starts preparing for the next, 16th meeting of the Republic of Korea-Central Asia Forum in 2023 in Ashgabat.
The parties expressed confidence that the official visit of Chairman of the Halk Maslakhaty - the Upper House of the Turkmen Parliament Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov to the Republic of Korea in November this year will open a new page in the history of bilateral relations.
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October 26th is the official opening day of the OGT 2022 Conference and Expo, which will run for three days through October 28th, 2022.
At a time when every part of the world is affected by climate change, the subject of efficient energy use and transition to cleaner sources of energy is ever more important. The OGT 2022 is devoted to exactly this subject: to strengthen the regional dialogue on further sustainable development of the energy sector and expand opportunities for attracting foreign direct investment to the oil and gas industry of Turkmenistan.
To achieve the goal of the sustainable development of the energy sector, industry leaders and experts need to be well-informed about the new and more fuel-efficient methods of oil and gas production. They need a platform to share their experiences and expertise with national and international fellows – a need that is availed by the OGT 2022 Conference and Expo.
Similarly, attracting foreign direct investment to the oil and gas industry of Turkmenistan is meant to diversify not only the distribution of the produced oil and gas but also to apply innovative methods of production in the oil and gas sector. The participation and business meetings on the sidelines of the conference will give a chance to potential investors to pitch their proposals for diverse projects in the oil and gas industry, chemical gas utilization, optimization of mature fields, and development of offshore blocks in the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea.
Even though the dialog on sustainable development of the energy sector and attracting foreign direct investment are direct goals of the OGT 2022, the agenda of the Conference is not indifferent to the pressing global issue of climate change. Hence, four out of six sessions are wholly dedicated to the future of energy. While the plenary session will discuss the challenges and opportunities in the future of energy, the last three sessions will be wholly dedicated to exchanging ideas and experiences on such topics as “New Era Energy: renewables and hydrogen; environmental aspects of hydrocarbon development; and innovative technologies and know-how in oil and gas science and education.
Last November, in his speech at the 26th session of the UN Climate Conference the President of Turkmenistan, Serdar Berdimuhamedov, noted that “Turkmenistan welcomes the Global Methane Commitment Initiative ….”
Less than a year later, in October the OGT 2022 and its preceding counterpart International Scientific Conference: “Environmental aspects in the production of hydrocarbon resources” in June 2022 substantiate that commitment. Hence, the main speakers on the agenda of the OGT 2022 are key decision-makers such as Mr. Dmitri Shlapachenko, UN Resident Coordinator in Turkmenistan and world-recognized experts in methane reduction as Ms. Olga Gassan-zade of Carbon Limits. For instance, along the lines of these two conferences “an initiation study” was conducted between the experts in Norway and Turkmenistan “to identify opportunities for knowledge transfer and capacity building activities.”
The high-level international oil and gas conference has been taking place in Turkmenistan since the late 1990s. The OGT 2022 will be the 27th one. This year it will be accompanied by an Expo of innovative technologies and services of international and national oil and gas companies. Both the Conference and Expo garnered a high-level interest from senior government officials, diplomatic missions, industry leaders, and experts in the oil and gas sector.
Around 40 representatives from more than 30 media entities will participate in the OGT 2022 to report on its progress to audiences not only in Turkmenistan but all over the world. The impressive list of media representatives includes writers and editors of global oil and gas analytics such as Argus Media, S&P Global Commodity Insights, Natural Gas World, China Daily, Interfax, Tass News Agency, and Belorussian News Agency. Till the start of the OGT 2022, dozens of news snippets were published to spread the message of the OGT 2022 to audiences beyond Turkmenistan. For instance, widely read news sites such as China Daily, Natural Gas World, and Central Asia News have posted the press release of the Conference so that people who will not be able to attend the OGT will still be able to learn about its mission and progress.
For the OGT 2022, the organizing committee has arranged round-trip charter flights in the Dubai-Ashgabat-Dubai route to help more than 100 delegates come to Ashgabat at a time when international travel is barely recovering from the Covid-19 break. More than 500 foreign and local delegates of international organizations, diplomatic missions, and international and national companies residing in Turkmenistan will also attend both the Conference and Expo. The delegates represent more than 200 companies from 45 countries. Of those who could not join the OGT 2022 in person, around 100 are expected to tune in online via the Zoom link. In addition, more than 50 energy companies will be represented at the Expo.
In his address at an event analogous to the OGT 2022 – World Gas Conference 2022 in Daegu, Korea – Mr. Ban Ki-moon, the former UN Secretary-General cautioned that “time was running out to address greenhouse emissions” while emphasizing “that natural gas could help drive down greenhouse gas emissions … when coupled with carbon capture and storage [making it] an even cleaner energy source.”
The oil and gas industry is like a double-edged sword, how we produce and use them can have either mitigating or deteriorating effects on the environment. So for the following three days, the OGT 2022 will promote the efficient production and consumption of oil and gas by giving a platform to experts, decision-makers, and industry leaders to present and exchange their ideas, expertise, and experience.
