Final Joint Declaration of International Forum dedicated to financing of realization of the Sustainable Development Goals held by initiative of Turkmenistan and under the UN sponsorship on May 28, 2020 was adopted as a document of the 74th session of the United Nation General Assembly. This document was published in six official languages of the UN and distributed among country members of the United Nations.

President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov was informed on this during the session of the Government on June 26 by vice-premier, Foreign Minister of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov.

The Head of the Foreign Ministry congratulated the Head of the State on this foreign political victory, which has become another evidence of the input of Turkmenistan to provision of global peace, prosperity and progress by the world community.

In this regard, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov noted that we see this event as an evidence of growing authority of the country in the world arena as well as another confirmation of high efficiency of foreign course of Turkmenistan, which is based on the principles of permanent neutrality.

Adoption of this document in the year of the 25th anniversary of neutrality of the country, which has been recognized two times by the United Nations and set in its main multilateral documents, is very important. Speaking of this, the President highlighted high level of strategic partnership between Turkmenistan and the UN.

Having congratulated Turkmen people and all participants of the session on this important foreign political event, Turkmen leader confirmed the commitment of our country to the course on further strengthening and expansion of comprehensive cooperation with the UN.

 The state news agency of Turkmenistan 

President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov took part in the event dedicated to New Year organized in Mizan Centre.

Deputy Chairmen of the Cabinet of Ministers, leaders of the Mejlis, military and law enforcement structures, ministries and departments, public organizations, heads of diplomatic missions accredited in Turkmenistan, ambassadors of our country, cultural personnel and art masters have gathered there.

The Head of the State extended warm congratulations on coming celebration to the participants, having noted that 2018 became another important milestone in modern history. This year, which is held under slogan “Turkmenistan – the Heart of the Great Silk Road”, has been marked with numerous events indicating great success and achievements of our country and its high authority in the world arena.

The Head of the State continued that big plans and objectives aimed at further strengthening of national economy, steadfast development of science, education, health protection and social sphere are planned for the next year of 2019, which would be held under slogan “Turkmenistan – the Home of Prosperity”. Having highlighted that all of these is to improve the wellbeing of Turkmen people, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov wished happiness, family prosperity and great success in work to all participants.

In their turn, the participants wished the Head of the State strong health, longevity, unexhausted power and energy and success in all noble beginnings congratulating the President on the celebration.

Integrated programmes aimed at efficient use of colossal natural reserves, implementation of huge economic potential of the state, spiritual and cultural prosperity of the nation are implemented under the leadership of the President in Turkmenistan. This is visually indicated by numerus social, cultural, production, transport and communication facilities, which have been put into operation in the capital and regions this year.

It includes Turkmenbashy International Seaport, carbamide plant in Garabogaz, petrochemical facility for production of polypropylene and polyethylene in Kiyanly, sanatorium and aqua park with entertainment centre in Avaza national tourist zone, Turkmenabat International Airport, combined power station in Mary, glass production facility Türkmenaýnaönümleri in Ahal Velayat, Serhetabat – Turgundy railroad as well as schools, medical facilities, comfortable residential buildings.

Construction of new phase of Turkmenistan – Afghanistan – Pakistan – India gas line, power and fibre optic lines on the same route, which according to President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov would serve to economic growth of the countries and wealth of the nations in the region, are among the projects that have been launched this year.

Potential of agrarian sphere is steadily growing. New livestock and poultry complexes, hothouse farms have been opened under implementation of the State import substitutive and export increment programmes. Due to important decisions taken at the first session of the People’s Council, actual impulse has been given to the reforms in agriculture, which would bring national agricultural complex to new levels.

Foundations of new modern villages have been laid in Ak Bugday, Gyoktepe and Kaahka etraps of Ahal Velayat according to the National Programme of improvement of social and living conditions of rural population until 2020.

In general, all of these makes conditions for dynamic economic growth of Turkmenistan in 2019, which is indicated by the forecasts of the world financial structures including International Monetary Fund.

Foreign course based on the principles of positive neutrality, peace, goodwill and beneficial cooperation pursued by the Head of the State brings actual results. Constructive initiatives of Turkmen leader aimed at the development of balanced solution of current issues and problems of time, intensification of fruitful partnership in regional and global scale, which were made at the United Nations General Assembly and other important forums, have received wide recognition and support of the world community.

Mass cycling ride and International rally Amul – Hazar 2018, which were organized on occasion of the World Bicycle Day instituted by the UN by proposal of Turkmenistan, the World Weightlifting Championship are among remarkable events of 2018. These sport events have improved the world image of our country and gave new impulse to physical training and sport movement.

Bright New Year performance with the participation of the art masters has been expanded in Mizan centre during the event. New song “Arzuw”, which lyrics has been written by President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and music by his grandson Kerimguly Berdimuhamedov, raised special enthusiasm of the participants. Distinguished by modern style and arrangement, the song was performed in Turkmen, English and German. The song penetrated the soul of all audience with its beautiful tunes and heartfelt lyrics, having left enthusiastic impressions indicated by the storm of applauses.

The state news agency of Turkmenistan

Salome Zurabishvili, 66, was sworn in as Georgia’s fifth president for a six-year term on December 16 in an oath-taking ceremony in the eastern Georgian town of Telavi.

“I, the President of Georgia, before the God and the Nation, declare to observe the Constitution of Georgia, defend the independence, unity and indivisibility of the country, to perform faithfully the duties of the President, to take care for the security and welfare of the citizens of my country and for the revival and might of my nation and homeland,” Zurabishvili said, holding her hand on the Georgian constitution.

After the oath-taking, Zurabishvili delivered the inauguration speech in presence of invited guests, foreign dignitaries, government members and lawmakers from the ruling party and Georgian soldiers. President Giorgi Margvelashvili attended the ceremony as well.

The oath-taking ceremony marked entry into force of the new constitution, which completes the country’s transition from semi-presidential to parliamentary system of governance.

The new constitution will further reduce president’s executive powers, a process launched in the 2010 constitutional amendments and finalized in the 2017 constitutional changes.

This also marked the last time the head of state was elected through direct ballot. According to the new constitution, which entered into force upon Zurabishvili’s inauguration, the head of state will be elected by a 300-member Electoral College for a term of five years starting from 2024.

A day before the oath-taking ceremony, on December 15, President-elect Salome Zurabishvili laid a wreath at the memorial of fallen Georgian soldiers at Heroes’ Square in Tbilisi. She also visited the Mtatsminda Pantheon, a cemetery of public figures in Tbilisi.

The Presidential runoff was held on November 28. The ruling party-backed candidate Salome Zurabishvili obtained 59.52% of the votes, while her challenger – Grigol Vashadze of the United Opposition finished with 40.48% of the votes. Vashadze did not accept the election results, citing mass election fraud.

https://civil.ge/archives/271167

President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov attended the opening ceremony of the Kiyanly Polymer Plant whose commissioning created approximately 1000 jobs, and then launched the autumn tree planting campaign by planting the first tree beside the territory of the new gas chemical complex.

The attendees joined the head of state’s initiative. Representatives of nearly every branch of the national economy, diplomats accredited to Turkmenistan and foreign guests took part in the tree planting campaign.

Careful attitude towards mother nature is the highest priority of Turkmenistan’s state policy. Green arteries of forests stretch along highways and railways, while green oases emerge around the dynamically developing industrial infrastructure, the rapidly growing towns and new settlements. Millions of trees were planted on the foothills of the Kopetdag Mountains that lie side by side with the white marble-cladded city of Ashgabat.

Particular attention is devoted to the emerald attire of Avaza National Tourist Zone. This investment project of major socio-economic importance, unprecedented in scale, has become an innovative model of integrated development of the regions. Kick-starting the rapid development of the tourist industry, the Avaza Project embraced several factors that influence Turkmenistan’s prosperity: the integrated use of the richest natural resources; recreational opportunities; the country’s advantageous location in terms of transit and transport and the ensuing diversification of the national economy.

Currently, according to the domestic specialists’ estimation and reputable international experts’ opinion, the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea is considered to be the most environmentally sustainable due to the focused works in this area. Environmentally friendly advanced technologies provide a framework for the urban development, the oil and gas sector, the chemical industry, the electric power industry and the agriculture. They also serve as essential criteria of the socio-economic programs, major international and regional projects deployed in the country.

The Turkmenbashi Complex of Oil Refineries, the flagship plant of the domestic petrochemical industry, is a concrete example of that. It is being modernized and technically re-equipped with the use of cutting-edge technology and technical solutions that help prevent technogenic damage to the environment.

The project for the construction of the International Sea Port in the city of Turkmenbashi, which was commissioned this May, was designed in accordance with the Green port international standard. To preserve the environment of the Caspian Sea, every terminal was provided with the bio-purifying equipment. It is remarkable that the soil extracted at the construction of the port was used to create an artificial island with the total area of 170 hectares in the gulf waters. It became a living, nesting and wintering ground for flamingoes, swans, geese, ducks, herons, pelicans and other birds.

Innovative technology is used in production of mineral fertilizers at the Garabogazkarbamid plant that became a valuable addition to the infrastructure of the country’s chemical industry in September. The environmental safety of this enterprise was confirmed by certificates from the reputable international organizations.

The new stage in implementing the National Forest Program was marked with the Resolution by the head of state, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, under which 3 million trees will be planted during the 2018 tree planting campaign. 1.5 million will be planted on the land between the districts of Ak Bugday and Baherden (Ahal province), and the same number of leafy, coniferous, fruit trees and vines will be planted on the outskirts of administrative centers of the provinces and in the cities. More than 445 thousand trees were planted in the country’s forest parks this spring.

The state news agency of Turkmenistan

Earlier in September, Carl Hartzell was appointed as Ambassador of the European Union to Georgia.

As the EU's top diplomat in the country, Ambassador Hartzell oversees the bilateral relationship between the EU and Georgia, and the work of the Delegation including political and economic affairs, as well as cooperation.

He represents the Presidents of the European Council and the European Commission and works under the direct authority of the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy in implementing the EU’s foreign policy.

BEIJING, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Communist Party of China (CPC) unveiled a newleadership line-up Wednesday to lead the world's most populous nation toward a great modern socialist country. 
   Xi Jinping was again elected general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, leading its seven-seat Political Bureau Standing Committee. 
   The other six members of the top leadership are Li Keqiang, Li Zhanshu, Wang Yang, Wang Huning, Zhao Leji and Han Zheng. 
   They were elected at the first plenum of the 19th CPC Central Committee following the 19thCPC National Congress, a new historic starting point for the Party to realize its ambitious blueprint for the nation's great revival. 
   During the twice-a-decade congress which concluded Tuesday, the CPC declared a "newera" of socialism with Chinese characteristics. It enshrined Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era into the CPC Constitution as a new component of the Party's action guide. 
   Xi was elected general secretary of the CPC Central Committee for the first time at the first plenum of the 18th CPC Central Committee in late 2012. 
   At a key plenum of the CPC Central Committee in 2016, Xi's status as the Party's core was endorsed. 
   Before him, Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin had been given the core status. 
   The new CPC leaders who took the stage Wednesday are the helmsmen leading the Chinese toward the country's new era goals of basically realizing socialist modernization by 2035 and building a great modern socialist country by the middle of this century. 
   "The leadership reshuffle of the CPC, the world's biggest political party, is an answer to the needs of the Party and the nation for the development of their causes," said Yang Fengcheng, professor at Renmin University of China and a researcher on CPC history. 
   "The new CPC leaders are good at learning and bold in practice," said Yang, who is also chief editor of the book "Keys to the Success of the Communist Party of China." 
   For the first time, all Standing Committee members of the Political Bureau were born after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. 
   They began their political careers around the time of the launch of reform and opening up in 1978, which imprinted them with the mark of the era when China's economy began to take off, following a decade of turmoil during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). 
   As a staunch reformist, Xi has launched more than 1,500 reform measures over the past five years -- unprecedented in their coverage and depth. 
   The other six Standing Committee members have also been active practitioners of reform and opening up policies. 
   Either at the central government or the local level, all members have driven an array of major reforms, explored theories, and solved deep-rooted problems with open minds, foresight and innovative thinking. 
   The new leaders are widely seen as having firm ideals and convictions, strong loyalty to the Party and deep love for the country. 
   All of them have received higher education and demonstrated in-depth understanding of philosophy and strategic thinking, with a relatively high level of theoretical thinking. Many have published academic papers, or even books, during their careers. 
   The seven leaders have accumulated rich experience in practice. They are viewed as having a good sense of the times and caring about the people. 
   Xi, for example, started his political career 44 years ago. Over the past five years, he has spent 151 days on 50 local inspection tours around the country. 
   Other leaders also have extensive experience working at the grassroots level and have been promoted to senior posts due to their excellent performance and good reputations. 
   Most of the seven leaders have worked in both well-off coastal areas in the east and less-developed central and western regions. 
   A number of them have played pivotal roles in the fight against poverty and successfully tackled difficult and risky issues in the fields of economic development, people's welfare, urban management, the anti-corruption campaign and industrial transformation. 
   Moreover, the new leaders have a deeper understanding of opening up and win-win development, with broader global vision and abundant experience in dealing with international issues. 
   For the past five years, the CPC leadership has been seen as a major driving force behind economic globalization. 
   "The new CPC leadership is a strong, goal-oriented team with acute awareness of problems and the ability to stand firm in practice," said Han Qingxiang, a professor at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee. 
   "They have been flexible and at the same time principled when dealing with problems. They have never forgotten why they started and have always pressed forward in the face of challenges at home and abroad," he noted. 
   Chen Yiwei, a delegate to the congress, is full of hope. 
   "The new leaders have rich experience and a strong sense of responsibility," he said. "I believe that with the guidance of the latest achievement in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, they can lead the Party and the nation to blaze new trails, overcome difficulties and accomplish the glorious missions in the new era." 

Public college “Spectrum” opened a new training-center on the basis of company “Artisans’ City”, where dual education will be piloted in the direction of “Carpenter”, “Artistic Processing of Wood” and “Furniture Designing Specialties”.

The center was established within the framework of the memorandum signed between the college and the company. One of the important points of this agreement is retraining and further employment of the staff. On the basis of the memorandum, the students of “Spectrum” were successfully trained in the direction of “Furniture Designing Specialties (Carpenter)” within the framework of “State Program for Professional Training and Retraining and Enhancement of Qualification of Job Seekers” in the company “Artisans’ City”.

Dual education is necessary for economic development of the country; it serves to strengthen the identified skills of the labor market, simplifying the process of searching of appropriate staff, reducing the lack of human capital, providing the qualified staff, that meets the requirements of the private sector and boosting competitiveness of the company in the local and international market.

Dual education, as a student-tailored education, facilitates the opportunity to get acquainted with the future work of the students in the workplace, to involve in the program from the very beginning during the entire production cycle, to strengthen the practical skills and abilities, as well as high competitiveness in the open labor market.

The specialists of the International Technical University of Munich (TUM International) will develop the Kutaisi University Complex development plan, academic and research programs together with the Georgian side. Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Georgia - Teimuraz Murgulia and Managing Director of International Technical University of Munich - Daniel Gottschald signed the relevant document today.

According to the agreement, the TUM International Quality Management Standards will be applied in development of Kutaisi University study and research programs as well as in the process of selection of management, scientific and administrative staff. The joint organizational group will cooperate at all stages of development of Kutaisi University and the German specialists will provide consultations to Georgian architects in the process of design works of the University infrastructures.

The agreement also envisages establishment of the Innovation Center, Clusters Hub and Applied Research Centre in Kutaisi University and seeking of potential business partners. The concept will be developed jointly for transfer of knowledge and development of the innovation centers, which will facilitate the Kutaisi University to become the center of knowledge and innovation in the region.

The Technical University of Munich (TUM), founded in 19th century, has 12 faculties, including engineering, natural sciences and social sciences, agriculture, food technology and medical. The University pays special attention to the field of innovation and technology. Annually, more than 1000 agreements are signed with the leading technology companies. The University students have founded more than 800 “Startup Companies”. The Technical University of Munich has 40 000 students and 10 000 employees. The University professors and teachers have received 13 Nobel Prizes in physics, chemistry and medicine.

New volume-based solution will enhance maritime connectivity in Europe and in the Middle East

LUXEMBOURG, 2 June 2017 -- SES (Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG) and GTMaritime, a specialist in providing communication solutions and services to the maritime industry, announced today a partnership to provide a new volume-based service package for regional maritime connectivity.

The new SES Networks Maritime+ Regional Connectivity service, leveraging SES’s extensive satellite fleet and ground infrastructure, will be marketed by GTMaritime under the name GTLitespeedMAX as part of their airtime portfolio.

The service provides customers with a set price, fixed volume, regional VSAT solution and is perfect for offshore supply vessels, fishing vessels, ferries and RoRo ships, barges, cargo carriers, leisure craft, dredgers and yacht management companies and will be available across European waters and in the Middle East.

“This new end-to-end service provided to us by SES Networks helps to bring maritime connectivity to a new level, giving access to tailored solutions for an even wider range of customers,” said Robert Kenworthy, CEO, GTMaritime. “GTLitespeedMAX, with speeds up to 4MBit/s in download and unlimited data usage during the night, will allow our customers to benefit from a volume-based fixed monthly rate package with full control over consumption and costs. Other benefits of this new solution are VOIP-optimised quality of service and compact hardware, using KNS antennas as small as 60 cm.”

“By utilising our services, GTMaritime has brought seamless connectivity to more than 600 ships over the past years” said Gerhard Bethscheider, Managing Director, SES Techcom Services, part of the newly-created SES Networks business unit. “We are continuously enhancing our offering and capabilities to provide tailored solutions coupled with unparalleled satellite coverage, and are happy to enable GTMaritime to deliver this easily customisable connectivity offering for the growing maritime market in Europe and the Middle East.”

South Koreans are voting in a presidential election, called early after a huge corruption scandal brought down their former leader. Liberal Moon Jae-in is the clear front-runner with centrist Ahn Cheol-soo his nearest challenger. The election is being closely watched at a time of economic uncertainty and heightened tensions with North Korea. Mr Moon wants to increase contact with the North in contrast to ex-leader Park Geun-hye who cut almost all ties.
Observers are expecting a high turnout at the ballot boxes, with numbers boosted by younger voters, as South Koreans choose from 13 candidates.
Polls close at 20:00 local time (11:00 GMT), with the winner expected to be announced soon after.
source:BBC.com