A new impetus to the Turkmen-American relations was called upon to give bilateral meetings and negotiations held within the framework of the recent working visit of the Turkmen delegation to the United States of America.

As is known, the development of multifaceted cooperation with the states of the world, including the United States, is one of the priorities of the foreign policy strategy successfully implemented under the leadership of President Serdar Berdimuhamedov.

Another confirmation of this was the ninth round of annual bilateral political consultations held on the 24th of April at the US State Department with the participation of delegations of the two countries headed by Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov (from the Turkmen side) and acting. Assistant Secretary of State Elizabeth Horst (US side).

Noting the importance of the annual meetings, which have already become a good tradition, the participants in the current talks emphasized that bilateral consultations are an effective platform for discussing joint tasks and achievements, as well as further strengthening the Turkmen-American partnership on the traditional principles of equality, trust and mutual respect.

As part of the interested exchange of views on the most important aspects and key areas of bilateral cooperation, the mutual focus of the parties on deepening ties in the political, diplomatic, trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian spheres was stated, taking into account the existing mutual interest and commonality of priorities for the socio-economic development of the two friendly countries.

Security, ecology, culture, education and the humanitarian sphere were identified among the priority areas of interstate cooperation.

So, reaffirming their commitment to expanding traditional cultural and educational ties, the parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of education, which, by common opinion, will serve as the basis for continuing joint efforts in this most important area of interstate relations.

A high assessment was given to the neutral status of Turkmenistan and the peace-loving foreign policy doctrine being pursued, which plays an important role in maintaining international peace, security and sustainable development.

The participants of the regular meeting also expressed support for the C5+1 regional diplomatic platform for Central Asia and the United States, and considered issues related to new formats for developing political contacts between the two countries.

By agreement of the parties, the next round of annual bilateral consultations will be held in 2024 in Ashgabat.

An important event during the working visit to the United States was the meeting of the head of the Foreign Ministry of Turkmenistan R. Meredov with the US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.

The diplomats reaffirmed the mutual commitment of the two countries to steadily building up a multifaceted dialogue both on a bilateral and multilateral basis - within the framework of major international organizations and authoritative structures, and discussed a wide range of important issues on the bilateral, regional and international agenda, as well as the current situation in Afghanistan and the promotion of inter-Afghan dialogue.

The parties emphasized that the further expansion of multifaceted cooperation between the states of Central Asia and the United States is an important factor in sustainable socio-economic development, maintaining peace, stability and security in the region. In this regard, one of the key topics of discussion was the development of partnerships within the C5 + 1 in the field of security, economy, energy and climate change.

During the productive exchange of views on the main aspects of the Turkmen-American cooperation in a number of key areas, which took place within the framework of the meeting, the interlocutors noted with satisfaction the closeness or coincidence of the positions of the two countries on a number of topical issues of our time, which allows them to effectively interact on the world stage.

In this regard, Anthony Blinken highly appreciated the important international initiatives put forward by the Turkmen side aimed at jointly finding ways to solve global problems of our time and expressed the readiness of the United States of America to continue to make joint efforts with Turkmenistan to ensure stability, security and prosperity in the region and around the world.

On the same days, members of the delegation of Turkmenistan met with the director of the National Museum of Asian Art of the Smithsonian Institution of the United States, Chase Robinson.

During the meeting, the possibilities of establishing cooperation with Turkmen museum institutions in order to promote the development of museum business in Turkmenistan, the preservation of heritage, and the training of museum workers were discussed.

An interested exchange of views on the current state and prospects of interstate cooperation in a number of priority areas took place during the meeting of the members of the delegation of our country with the head of the Turkmen-American Business Council, Eric Stewart.

Representatives of the US State Department and a number of well-known American companies, including «Aquatech International», «UGT Renewables», «John Deere», «ExxonMobil», «TransCaspian Resources», «Westport Trading Limited», also took part in the meeting on behalf of the American side.

Speaking about the active work of the Turkmen-American Business Council, created to promote the development of mutually beneficial trade and economic cooperation, the participants of the talks discussed the possibility of expanding the scope of traditional partnership by attracting American companies to the implementation of new joint projects aimed at further social and economic progress of our country.

As noted, good prerequisites for this are created by the policy of «open doors» pursued by Turkmenistan and a favorable investment climate, attracting an increasing number of potential foreign partners to the promising Turkmen market.

As noted, it is the established trusting nature of interstate relations that allows Turkmenistan and the United States not only to implement the bilateral agreements reached, but also to form new areas of long-term successful cooperation, which includes productive interaction in the trade, economic, oil and gas and energy sectors, agriculture, and transport and communications, education and other important areas. In particular, an exchange of views took place on promising projects in the gas and chemical industry, in the field of renewable energy sources and hydrogen energy.

The importance of interaction in the field of environmental protection, including in solving the problem of reducing methane emissions into the atmosphere, was also noted. At the same time, an agreement was reached to carry out work in this topical area on the basis of the initiative put forward by President Serdar Berdimuhamedov in November 2021 in Glasgow at the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, in particular COP26.

A separate topic of discussion was the further supply of agricultural machinery from leading American manufacturers for the needs of water and agriculture in Turkmenistan.

As you know, in recent years, fruitful contacts have been established with leading US companies, which not only supply our country with high-quality modern equipment that is maximally adapted to local climatic conditions, but also actively take an active part in the training of specialized specialists.

Representatives of the US business circles expressed their full interest in steadily building up mutually beneficial cooperation with dynamically developing Turkmenistan, which has a colossal economic and resource potential, and in implementing new joint projects with state and private structures of our country.

Based on the results of the business negotiations, an agreement was reached to intensify activities carried out to further strengthen economic cooperation, taking into account the accumulated positive experience of joint work and the goals of the socio-economic development strategy implemented by Turkmenistan, aimed at modernizing all sectors of the national economy. In accordance with the tasks set, according to the unanimous opinion of the parties, the basis of bilateral economic relations should be advanced digital technologies and innovative developments.

The meeting of the members of the Turkmen delegation with US Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Geoffrey Pyatt, held within the framework of the working visit, deserves special attention.

The parties discussed the implementation of major projects involving leading American businesses.

Particular attention was paid to the supply of Turkmen energy resources to world markets, in particular, in the European direction. At the same time, the importance of the consistent implementation of large-scale projects of regional and international importance, including the construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline and the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP) power transmission line, was especially emphasized.

As a result of the meetings and negotiations held in Washington, a number of specific proposals were drawn up for further intensification of Turkmen-American relations, among the most important of which are the preparation of a «Roadmap» of cooperation for 2023-2024, the development of proposals to strengthen the legal framework of bilateral cooperation and organization of mutual visits at various levels.

All this, undoubtedly, will give a new powerful impetus to the traditional interstate dialogue and the development of the most effective forms of bilateral cooperation, the diversification of which meets the state interests of Turkmenistan and the United States, and also serves to strengthen relations of friendship and mutual understanding between their peoples.