Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

Turkmenistan ensured a stable growth rate of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2012, which amounted to 11.1 percent compared to last year, Turkmen media reported on Saturday citing data announced at a recent government meeting.

"We consistently support the growth of the gross domestic product," Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov said. "The growth rate during the reporting period amounted to 11.1 percent."

The share of industries in GDP was 52 percent.

Berdymukhamedov said wages increased by 11.1 percent.

Growth rate of the country's foreign trade turnover hit 125.9 percent compared to 2011.

Most of investments were directed to comprehensive development of the industrial sector, increasing capacities and equipping them with know-how. Thus, 66.1 percent of the investments was spent on industrial development, while 33.9 percent on other sectors of the economy.

The Turkmen president said further, "According to international experts, the economic situation in the world, as always, will be complex and unstable this year."

"The global economy will undergo radical changes and enter a period of reorganization. Undoubtedly, these changes in the world economy will impact our country," Berdymukhamedov said.

He said this year will be one of the most difficult ones for Turkmenistan.

"But this must not scare us," he said. "I am confident that we will overcome all the difficulties with our people's support and achieve all the far-reaching goals."

Berdymukhamedov noted that Turkmenistan is to implement projects worth a total of $17 billion this year.

"In this regard, your task is to ensure high quality construction and timely commissioning of all required facilities," the Turkmen leader said.

The most important and urgent tasks include effective attraction of investments, significant improvement of the investment climate and creating effective mechanisms to encourage investment activity.

This year it is planned to build facilities in Turkmenistan by 20 percent more than in 2012. The matter rests in commissioning 435 major facilities and many social and industrial ones within the national rural development program. A section of the North-South railway, gas and oil pipelines, bridges, roads, factories, plants, and medical and socio-cultural facilities are among them.

Turkmenistan holds one of the key positions in the region for natural gas supplies. Russia, China and Iran are importers of gas from the Central Asian state.

Turkmenistan has taken a course toward diversifying its economy. Oil and gas refining, textile, cotton processing industries and production of construction materials have been recently developing.