Session of the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan

On February 12, President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov convened a regular Cabinet session to consider some draft documents and a number of important issues of state life.

Turning to the session agenda, the nation’s leader gave the floor to Cabinet Deputy Chairman B. Hojamammedov to inform about the state of affairs in the sector, he is in charge of, and about the ongoing work on upgrading the relevant normative legal acts. For the purchase of goods and deals on the execution of works and provision of services, budget-funded institutions are currently following the Procedure for holding tenders to select suppliers of goods and contractors, authorized by the Resolution of the President of Turkmenistan dated July 22, 2011. As the Vice-premier reported, in accordance with the provisions of the Law of Turkmenistan “On tenders for the supply of goods, execution of works, provision of services for state needs”, adopted in December 2014, a draft Resolution on approving a new Procedure for holding tenders to select suppliers of goods, contractors and service providers for state-financed consumers had been prepared.

After signing the draft Resolution, President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov addressed the Vice-premier a number of concrete issue-related instructions.

In his report, Cabinet Deputy Chairman, Director of the State Agency for the Management and Use of Hydrocarbon Resources under the President of Turkmenistan Ya. Kakaev covered the activity in the sectors answerable to him, the program-specified measures aimed to boost the production capacity of the country’s oil-and-gas industry and its export potential as part of the “Turkmenistan’s Oil-and-Gas Industry Development Program for the period till 2030”.

The Vice-premier also informed about the progress of the projects, being carried out in the fuel and energy sector jointly with Japanese partners, and the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project.

In the report follow-up comments, President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov concentrated on the tasks of further progressive development of the country’s fuel and energy sector.

The Vice-premier was given specific commissions on the construction of new facilities at the Turkmenbashi Refinery Complex and speeding up the infrastructure projects in the oil-and-gas industry.

In his turn, Cabinet Deputy Chairman E. Orazgeldiev delivered a report on the seasonal agri-works ongoing in the country.

Seminars are being organized in velayats with the participation of specialists of the sectoral institutions to exchange experience in producing abundant crops and applying the most advanced farming methods in the sector.

Reporting on the implementation progress of the earlier presidential commissions, the Vice-premier centered on the measures for improving water supply of farmlands, including the steps aimed at providing additional water reserves in water-storage basins, clearing beds, strengthening banks and widening the water facilities as well as the Karakum River, man-made reservoirs, irrigation canals and drainage systems.

After the report, President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov demanded from the leaders of the agroindustrial sector to keep to the schedule of the agri-campaigns and to ensure their quality.

During the session, with the aim to enhance the efficiency of the agricultural producers’ work on the production of heavy yields and protection of crops from diseases and pests, the President of Turkmenistan signed a Resolution, having authorized the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources of Turkmenistan to make contracts with foreign companies for purchasing agrichemicals, spare parts, wheels, lubricants and expendable materials.

The report of Cabinet Deputy Chairman B. Ereshov was an extensive coverage of the situation in the sectors, he is responsible for, the implementation progress of the earlier presidential commissions on further modernization of the textile industry’s production infrastructure. As reported, a new plant for the production of socks (with an annual capacity of 2, 500, 000 pairs of socks) had been constructed at the Ashgabat Textile Complex in compliance with the state import-substitution program.

The new production facility was constructed by “Dokmahyzmat” State Enterprise of the Ministry of Textile Industry of Turkmenistan. It is tooled with the most advanced high-technology equipment from well-known manufacturers from Turkey, Italy, Japan, and Germany. The new product will meet the highest quality standards and will be ecologically clean; it will cost twice as little as a pair of socks manufactured overseas. Besides, the newly built facility will contribute to the creation of new jobs. 

Summing up the report, President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov stressed that the accelerated development of the processing industry’s leading branches would enable to considerably strengthen the Turkmen economy’s competitive position and its export potential.

The head of state gave the Vice-premier a number of instructions concerning commissioning of the new facility, having assigned to time its official opening to coincide with the holiday – Turkmenistan’s State Flag Day and ensure its high organizational level.

Next speaker, Cabinet Deputy Chairman, Senior Manager of the Presidential and Cabinet Administration Office Sh. Durdylyev reported on the work aimed to give wide press coverage to our country’s advances in the construction industry and the large-scale development programs ongoing in Turkmenistan in this field. As informed, in compliance with the Resolution of the head of state dated January 16, 2016, “Construction and Architecture of Turkmenistan’, a quarterly magazine, is published in the Turkmen language. The nation’s leader was submitted a proposal to issue the magazine in the Turkmen, English and Russian languages to increase the number of its readers as well as to give the international community new insights into achievements of our country’s construction sector.

President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov noted a contribution to the development of the country’s building industry, national and international exchanges of professional information between investors, architects, builders, producers and suppliers of building materials and technologies, the practical application of state-of-the-art design and engineering solutions, modern building structures and equipment as main objectives of  “Construction and Architecture of Turkmenistan”. The magazine should offer materials on training of specialists for the field, in particular, on the teaching and learning process at the Turkmen State Institute of Architecture and Construction, as well as on the peculiar features of the national art of building, which is part of the Turkmen people’s rich cultural heritage, the head of state said.

The magazine should be available not only by subscription and at retail in our country, but also at international exhibitions and forums, the nation’s leader continued, having emphasized that the edition is aimed to popularize impressive achievements of Turkmenistan’s modern architecture in the world. It is perfectly reasonable to publish the magazine in the three languages to enlarge its readership, President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov said, having given a concrete issue-related assignment to the Vice-premier.

The state of affairs in the supervised sectors and preparations for the ceremonial opening of an enterprise for the production of carpets and carpet products in the capital’s Abadan etrap were the key issue the report made by Cabinet Deputy Chairman B. Atdaev was centered on.

In compliance with the Resolution of the President of Turkmenistan, the new enterprise was constructed by a private building firm – a member of the country’s Industrialists and Entrepreneurs Union, against the order of “Abadan Haly” Open Joint-stock Corporation. The production facility (with an annual capacity of 800,000 sq. meters of carpets and carpet products) covers an area of 14.5 hectares. The enterprise is tooled with state-of-the-art equipment from leading foreign manufacturers, which makes it possible to produce carpets varied in type, size and design. Along with the automated production lines, the enterprise boasts a department for handmade national Turkmen carpets. All in all, the enterprise will create 500 new jobs.

In the after-report comments, the nation’s leader Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov noted the ever-growing potential of the private sector of the economy in industrial construction. The head of state highlighted the need to keep on encouraging business initiative of local producers, having given the Vice-premier commissions concerning the development of private-public partnership in the trade-economic sphere.

President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov assigned the Vice-premier to hold the ceremony of opening the within-said enterprise at a high organizational level and time the event to coincide with Turkmenistan’s State Flag Day.

In her turn, Cabinet Deputy Chairperson M. Yazmuhammedova presented a report on a draft Plan of Activities, prepared jointly with the Interstate Fund for Humanitarian Cooperation of the CIS member states on the occasion of announcing the city of Dashoguz the cultural capital of the Commonwealth of Independent States in 2016.

The official opening ceremony of “Dashoguz – the cultural capital of the CIS in 2016” Year is due to be held in the second half of March. During the year, the administrative center of the country’s northern region will host conferences, meetings with cultural workers and writers, as well as concerts to be given by performing artists from the CIS states, and other international events. As part of international scientific forums and an annual book exhibition fair to be organized in Turkmenistan in 2016, meetings and creative actions will be held with the participation of cultural and scientific workers from the CIS states. Excursions will be arranged to make guests acquainted with the historical and cultural monuments of our country’s northern region. Souvenirs and printed materials, devoted to the ancient Turkmen city of Dashoguz, will be also available.

In the report follow-up comments, President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov placed emphasis on further popularization of the Turkmen people’s culture, the intensification of the dialogue in this important sphere, which helps to maintain friendship between the nations and contributes to mutual enrichment of cultures.

Having approved the Plan of Activities to highlight Dashoguz city’s status as the cultural capital of the CIS, the nation’s leader assigned to hold the events at a better and higher level in terms of organization and content, having given the Vice-premier issue-associated commissions. 

In his report, Cabinet Deputy Chairman S. Toilyev focused on the work ongoing in the sectors answerable to him, the outcomes of the working trip made by the delegation of Turkmenistan to Dubai (UAE) on February 7-9 to take part in the World Government Summit.

The forum brought together government leaders from 150 countries, as well as representatives of a number of authoritative international organizations. The Summit agenda focused on a wide spectrum of issues concerning the world community’s future. Among them were prospects and priority trends for further development of economy and social sphere, education, science and technologies, healthcare, as well as the issues of youth policy and environmental protection. As noted, the diversification of economic sectors and their scientific development are currently taking on a special meaning. It was stressed in this context, that Turkmenistan’s experience in this field accumulated under the guidance of the nation’s leader Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov is today in demand and is of great interest to the international community.

Summing up the report, the head of state stressed that having taken the road of innovative development, Turkmenistan seeks to actively introduce high technologies and remarkable scientific and technical advances into all spheres of life. Today, effective steps are being taken in our country towards the systematic improvement of the national education system, science and medicine, wide application of the latest equipment and the most advanced technological solutions, all-round modernization of the related infrastructure. Given the present-day requirements and prospects, the issues of boosting the efficiency of the state administration system are in the center of attention. To this end, special importance is attached to the strengthening of effective cooperation and mutually beneficial exchange of experience with foreign partners.

President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov gave the Vice-premier a number of concrete instructions, having highlighted the necessity of keeping constant control over timely and efficient tackling all the issues set in the within-said spheres.

Touching upon the relations between Turkmenistan and the United Arab Emirates, the nation’s leader underlined that the UAE is one of our country’s long-standing and reliable partners, having noted the availability of multi-aspect potential for advancing the interstate cooperation, which meets mutual interests.

Cabinet Deputy Chairman S. Satlykov informed about the progress of the Ashgabat International Airport project, as well as about the work on building the second national artificial satellite.

As per the project design, the capital’s new airport consists of 95 different-type facilities (65 large and 35 small ones). By now, 31 of them have been put into operation. The construction of another 31 facilities is nearing completion. The rest of them (33 premises) are being constructed at an accelerated pace according to the approved plan and schedule. The newly built facilities and buildings are being equipped with everything necessary.

After the report, President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov commissioned the vice-premier to ensure unremitting control over the construction of all major infrastructure projects in the strategic transport sector.

Having focused on the artificial satellite issue, the President of Turkmenistan instructed the Vice-premier to carry out an in-depth analysis of the work done in this direction.

Reporting on the Ministry’s activity, Cabinet Deputy Chairman, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan R. Meredov informed about the outcomes of the working trip made by the order of the head of state to Geneva (Switzerland) and Vienna (Austria) on February 7-11 to discuss the issues of cooperation between our country and the international organizations, which have their headquarters in the cities.

As reported, during the visit to Geneva, the delegation of Turkmenistan had meetings with leaders of the United Nations Office, the World Trade Organization, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Labor Organization, the International Road Transport Union, the International Civil Defense Organization, the World Intellectual Property Organization, the UN Conference on Trade and Development, the UN Economic Commission for Europe, and the International Organization for Migration.

In Vienna, the Turkmen delegation met with leaders of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization, and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization.

The agenda of the meetings included the issues of strengthening and broadening the effective partnership between our country and the authoritative organizations, as well as combining efforts to achieve the sustainable development goals. Special consideration was given to the constructive initiatives by the President of Turkmenistan, which are aimed at advancing effective regional and international cooperation in the transport sector, ecology and other important fields.

Meetings with the President of Austria and senior officials of some government institutions were held in Vienna to discuss prospects for further all-round development of the traditionally friendly Turkmen-Austrian relations.

In the report follow-up comments, President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov stressed cooperation with the authoritative international organizations, including the UN and its large specialized agencies, as one of the priority vectors of the foreign policy strategy of Turkmenistan, based on the principles of permanent neutrality, peace, good neighborly relations and broad mutually advantageous partnership.

The head of state focused on the need to take effective steps towards the promotion and implementation of Turkmenistan’s creative initiatives, including in such important areas as global energy security, safe and stable supplies of energy resources to world markets, development of extensive integrated international transit-transport infrastructure. In the light of the present situation, the environmental issues and ecological risk reduction, in particular climate change impacts have become more and more topical.

Speaking of this, President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov highlighted that Turkmenistan is making a weighty contribution to the strengthening of international environmental cooperation, having put forward a number concrete proposals in this field. Among them is the initiative to establish the Regional Climate Change Center for Central Asia in cooperation with the United Nations. The Turkmen side is ready to provide necessary infrastructure for its activity.

In this connection, the head of state gave the Vice-premier a number of issue-relevant commissions, including the ones concerning further advancement of cooperation with the international organizations in the above-said areas.

Touching upon the Turkmen-Austrian relations, the nation’s leader noted with satisfaction their traditional, progressive character, having emphasized Turkmenistan’s intention to enhance and expand the constructive interstate partnership with Austria – both in the bilateral and multilateral format, including through a dynamically developing dialogue between our country and the European Union.

Then, Mejlis Speaker A. Nurberdyeva reported on the main areas of the legislative activity done by the national parliament’s working committees. Parliamentarians are currently preparing draft laws of Turkmenistan concerning the country’s further political, economic and cultural development, protection of human rights, nature protection, strengthening and implementation of the independent neutral state’s foreign policy, and others. 

As part of the social policy, aimed at supporting large families, the work is well under way on conferring the “Ene Myahri” Honorary Title to the mothers of eight and more children. From all over the country, 201 women have been nominated for the title, which is annually awarded to mothers of many children on the occasion of International Women’s Day.

Commenting on the report, President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov underlined that Mejlis deputies’ efforts should be concentrated on establishing a timely and qualitative legal framework for the activities on modernization of all spheres of Turkmen society and protection of human rights.

Having highlighted that the issues of providing support to the institutions of family, mother and child should be always the focus of attention for the deputies, the head of state assigned to hold the ceremony of awarding the “Ene Myahri” Honorary Title to mothers of large families at a high organizational level.

Some other issues of state life were discussed at the Cabinet session and relevant resolutions were adopted.

State News Agency of Turkmenistan (TDH)