Strengthening stability in region, main topic of Turkmen-Japanese talks
By Aynur Karimova
Strengthening stability and security in the Central Asia and Asia-Pacific regions and in the world was high on the agenda of talks held between Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was on an official visit to the country last week.
The sides paid special attention to issues relating to trade and economic partnerships. In this regard, President Berdimuhamedov noted the long-standing and successful operation of Japanese companies in Turkmenistan as part of several major projects, including the turnkey construction of several natural gas processing enterprises.
The Japanese premier, in turn, stressed his country's readiness to share its experience and advanced technologies with Turkmenistan.
He said that the new bilateral agreements on the construction of a gas and chemical plant, a power plant and other facilities are evidence of the desire to further strengthen the partnership. The total cost of these projects exceeds $18 billion.
According to Shinzo Abe, the Japanese companies are also interested in joining projects to develop the industrial infrastructure at the Galkynysh gas field.
The sides also discussed the pace of the burgeoning partnership in building the combined transport-transit and logistics infrastructure in the framework of East-West and North-South cooperation, in the field of disaster prevention and seismology, as well as in culture, education and the training of staff.
The talks resulted with the signing of ten bilateral agreements, and the adoption of a document confirming the exchange of verbal notes between Turkmenistan and Japan on mutual visa exemption for diplomatic and service passports holders.
President Berdymukhamedov and Premier Shinzo Abe also issued a joint statement on the deepening of cooperation between the two counties.
The Turkmen-Japanese cooperation is seen as an important element in development of relations between Turkmenistan and the Asia-Pacific region as a whole. To this end, the two countries are seeking to use their geopolitical and geo-economic advantages.
Turkmenistan is considering the opportunities available for Japanese companies in joint investment projects in petrochemical, gas processing, electro-technical, and other industrial sectors.
Japan's high technologies and Turkmenistan's rich natural resources are complementary, business circles in Tokyo believe.
Currently, relations between Japan and Turkmenistan are actively developing. Japanese officials consider Turkmenistan to be a reliable partner.
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Aynur Karimova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova
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