President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov at a meeting with Head of European Diplomacy Kaya Kallas confirmed Ashgabat’s desire to expand a multilateral dialogue with the EU, the government’s official newspaper Neutral Turkmenistan reported on Friday.
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“During the discussion of the current state of cooperation and the possibilities for its expansion, it was emphasized that a close dialogue with the European Union is carried out within the framework of programs aimed at the socio-economic development of Turkmenistan … The Head of State, highly appreciating the level of development of the multifaceted dialogue between Turkmenistan and the European Union, confirmed our country’s commitment to its expansion,” the message says.
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According to the newspaper, Berdimuhamedov noted the importance of developing international North–South and East–West transport corridors, which, in his opinion, will become a reliable mechanism for expanding trade and economic cooperation between the countries of the Eurasian continent.
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The 20th EU-Central Asia Ministerial meeting was held in Ashgabat on Thursday with the participation of representatives of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, chaired by the Head of EU Diplomacy Kai Kallas. The agenda of the meeting included preparations for the first EU–Central Asia summit, scheduled for April 3-4 in Samarkand, as well as a wide range of topics, from the conflict in Ukraine to issues of transport, digital communications, energy, trade and humanitarian cooperation.
