On May 14, 2024, the National Leader of the Turkmen people, Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov met with the Chairman of the Japanese-Turkmen Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group Toshiaki Endo. Member of the House of Representatives of the Japanese Parliament, Ayano Sato, also took part in the meeting.

Expressing deep gratitude for his time, Toshiaki Endo conveyed greetings and best wishes to Arkadag from Emperor Naruhito and Prime Minister of Japan Fumio Kishida, emphasizing the great personal contribution of the National Leader of the Turkmen people to the development of bilateral relations, which have received in recent years qualitatively new dynamics.

Having conveyed greetings and good wishes to the Emperor and Prime Minister of Japan, Arkadag highly appreciated the traditionally friendly relations with the Land of the Rising Sun, built on the principles of equality, mutual respect and trust.

Noting that our states interact constructively both in a bilateral format and within the framework of international organizations, the National Leader of the Turkmen people expressed gratitude to Japan for supporting the neutral status and peaceful foreign policy of Turkmenistan, as well as its initiative to declare 2025 as the International Year of Peace and Trust.

During the conversation, an interested exchange of views took place on current issues of Turkmen-Japanese cooperation, where one of the key areas is interaction in the trade and economic sphere. In this regard, the National Leader of the Turkmen people emphasized the significant contribution of Japanese partners to the implementation of the industrialization program of Turkmenistan and the implementation of major investment projects.

Continuing the topic, Chairman Halk Maslahaty also noted the merits of former Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe in bringing bilateral relations to a new level, which was reflected in the productive activities of Japanese business circles in our country.

Special attention during the meeting was paid to the development of interparliamentary relations. Here, a significant role is given to the activities of the Turkmen-Japanese and Japanese-Turkmen Friendship Groups, designed to serve as an effective mechanism for exchanging experience in the legislative sphere, strengthening specialized bilateral contacts and conducting consultations.

In this context, it was noted that work is underway to implement Arkadag’s initiative to organize a meeting in Ashgabat of the heads of parliaments of the Central Asian countries and Japan within the framework of the “Central Asia + Japan” Dialogue, in the format of which positive experience of cooperation has been accumulated.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the National Leader of the Turkmen people wished the successful holding of the first Summit of the Heads of State participating in the “Central Asia + Japan” Dialogue.

It was also emphasized that cooperation in the humanitarian sphere, which contributes to the rapprochement of peoples and the mutual enrichment of cultures, certainly plays a significant role in strengthening interstate relations. At the same time, the readiness of Turkmenistan and Japan to continue many years of fruitful interaction in this direction was expressed.

At the end of the meeting, having exchanged mutual good wishes, the National Leader of the Turkmen people, Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and Chairman of the Japan-Turkmen Interparliamentary Friendship Group Toshiaki Endo expressed confidence in the further successful development of the interstate dialogue and filling it with new specific content.