PRESIDENT GURBANGULY BERDIMUHAMEDOV: THERE IS NO SUCH QUESTION, WHICH WE COULD NOT SOLVE JOINTLY.

On August 6, the Third Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia, chaired by the President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, was held on the Caspian coast, in the Avaza national tourism zone. The Avaza Congress Centre became the venue for the High-Level Forum, to participate in which the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Japarov, the President of the Republic of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon and the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev arrived in our country.

One of the priority directions of the constructive foreignpolicy course of our independent neutral Motherland, initiated and consistently implemented by the national leader, is the strengthening and expansion of fruitful cooperation with neighbouring countries in the region, with whose peoples the Turkmen people are united by a community of cultural and spiritual values and historically established ties of friendship and mutual support. As the head of Turkmenistan notes, the states of Central Asia have a huge multifaceted potential, the realisation of which meets the interests of common wellbeing, prosperity and progress. Our country stands for a systematic, balanced and comprehensive approach to the development of regional interaction, which is gaining special topicality and relevance, taking into account the ever-growing role of the region not only in continental, but also in global processes.

It should be reminded that in November 2019, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov took part in the Second Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia held in Tashkent, where he proclaimed a number of specific initiatives on priority areas of cooperation. Held in one of the picturesque corners of our country, the Avaza national tourism zone, the next Summit in this format was intended to give a long-term partnership new incentives and content and to help strengthen the traditionally friendly and goodneighbourly relations among the countries and peoples of the region. In the morning, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov went to the Avaza Congress Centre.

There, in the foyer, the Turkmen leader cordially and fraternally greeted the heads of Central Asian states, the President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Japarov, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev and the President of the Republic of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, who arrived one after the other to participate in the Forum. After the exchange of traditional friendly handshakes, the joint photographing of the President of Turkmenistan with each of the distinguished guests took place. Prior to the Summit, the leader of the nation held bilateral meetings with the Presidents of Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan and also with the Special Representative of UN SecretaryGeneral for Central Asia, Head of the UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia Natalia Gherman.

The Forum was preceded by a ceremony of the joint photographing of the Presidents of Turkmenistan, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan against the background of the official banner of the Consultative Meeting. Then, in the conference hall of the Avaza Congress Centre, the Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia was held. Cordially greeting the leaders of the friendly neighbouring countries, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov thanked the distinguished guests for their acceptance of the invitation to visit Turkmenistan for discussing and working out solutions to the most important issues of regional development.

As the Turkmen leader noted, previous meetings within the framework of the Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia had convincingly shown the consistency, usefulness and high efficiency of that format of political interaction. It makes it possible to learn and better understand each other's positions, contributes to the formation of a holistic view of the course and direction of regional cooperation, allows timely and flexible responding to the processes taking place in Central Asia and helps build national priorities, taking into account the interests of partners. President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said they expected that meeting would be aimed at further strengthening regional cooperation, would provide conditions for more active, targeted steps in that direction and would become a powerful mobilizing factor for the effective and constructive participation of the Central Asian region in continental and global affairs.

During the years of independence, our peoples have managed to preserve and strengthen their statehood and to overcome the difficulties of the initial stages of its formation. Today, despite the objective difficulties against the background of the global crisis, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan are demonstrating stable indicators of economic growth and are implementing basic social programmes. The responsible, peaceful foreign policy of our countries has brought them a well-deserved prestige on the international arena. In our relations, we relied on the historical bonds of good neighbourliness, mutual respect, fraternity and cultural and civilisational proximity of our peoples, the Turkmen leader emphasised.

This solid foundation allows us to look confidently into the future and to build large-scale, long-term and viable plans for cooperation in a wide range of areas. Expressing his conviction that the forthcoming discussions would be fruitful and would be held in a traditionally friendly and constructive manner, the President of Turkmenistan announced the Third Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia open. Then, speaking to the participants of the Forum, the national leader once again welcomed the heads of state and members of the delegations of the countries of the region to Turkmenistan and expressed gratitude for the accepted invitation to participate in that meeting. That day, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov continued, they were holding a regular sitting of the Consultative Meeting of the Heads of State of Central Asia.

This shows that this format is in demand and relevant and enjoys the support of the leaders of all five countries, making it possible in a confidential and business atmosphere to discuss pressing issues of the development of the Central Asian region. As you know, several years ago, when discussing the idea of holding Consultative Meetings of the Heads of State of Central Asia, we proceeded from the assumption that this new form of political communication at the highest state level would become a permanent platform for the formation of creative processes in Central Asia. It was about the development and adoption of joint mutually acceptable decisions on the most pressing issues in the life of our region, the head of Turkmenistan said.

This concerns the political, economic, social and other spheres of five-party interaction with the aim of ensuring the sustainable and progressive development of the region, the wellbeing and prosperity of the peoples living here. In this context, the Turkmen leader noted the results of the Consultative Meetings held in Nur-Sultan in March 2018 and in Tashkent in November 2019 had become positive examples of the coordinated and constructive activities of the states of the region.

Their results today are reflected in the intensification of political and diplomatic contacts among the Central Asian countries, the implementation of joint economic projects and the expansion of humanitarian ties among our peoples. Speaking about this, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov proposed to instruct the Governments of the five countries to conduct an in-depth analysis of the content of the documents adopted as a result of the abovementioned meetings, to develop and submit for consideration to the heads of Central Asian states a Roadmap for the implementation of previously reached agreements, designed for a medium-term period. Preliminary work on the draft of this document has already begun. It is necessary to finalise it in the shortest possible time and to adopt a Roadmap, which will determine the priorities of joint activities.

As the head of Turkmenistan noted further, energy was a key component of the economy of the Central Asian states. We are all conceptually united in our views on the configuration and prospects of partnership in this area. This is confirmed by the repeated and unanimous support by the states of the region for the Resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly, initiated by our country, on the reliability and stability of energy supplies as an important factor in economic growth. Based on UN documents, we are moving towards the formation in Central Asia of favourable political, legal and economic conditions for a safe, sustainable energy partnership, focused both on meeting the intraregional demand for energy resources and on accessing world markets through international transit corridors.

Taking into account the immense natural resources of the region and the advantages of its geographical location, we could say with firm confidence that we had all the possibilities for the effective implementation of the above task, the leader of the nation stressed. Obviously, partnership in the energy sector must be carried out through the active and full-fledged participation of all Central Asian states without exception, and it should be aimed at creating a powerful energy infrastructure both within the region and along its external perimeter.

Based on the above, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov stated Turkmenistan was ready to significantly increase the volume of supplies of its natural gas to...