WORKING VISIT OF THE CHAIRMAN OF THE HALK MASLAHATY OF THE MILLI GENGESH OF TURKMENISTAN TO JAPAN

From September 25 to October 1, 2022, the Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty of the Milli Gengesh of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov made a working trip to Japan.

On September 26, the Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty of the Milli Gengesh of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov met with the Chairman of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of Japan Hosoda Hiroyuki.

During the meeting, Arkadag Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov expressed sincere condolences on behalf of the President and the people of Turkmenistan, as well as on his own behalf, in connection with the untimely death of the ex-Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe.

In continuation of the meeting, issues of building up the inter-parliamentary dialogue were considered. In this regard, esteemed Arkadag put forward a number of proposals for further strengthening inter-parliamentary ties. Firstly, it was proposed to strengthen the work of the Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group, secondly, to create and effectively use the mechanisms of youth inter-parliamentary interaction, thirdly, to increase the role of women in inter-parliamentary relations, and fourthly, to intensify the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Speaker of the Lower House of the Japanese Parliament, in turn, noted the interest of his country in building up partnership with the Turkmen side in the field of energy, and expressed support for the initiatives put forward by the Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty of the Milli Gengesh of Turkmenistan to develop parliamentary diplomacy.

On the same day, the Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty of the Milli Gengesh of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov met in Tokyo with the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the «Çalik Holding» group of companies Ahmet Chalyk, during which an exchange of views took place on the current state of mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields, including energy and construction.

On September 27, the Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty of the Milli Gengesh of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov had a business breakfast with the heads of the companies «Kawasaki Heavy Industries», «SANKO SELKO CO. LTD», «Komatsu Ltd», «Itochu Corp.», «Mitsubishi Corp.», «Sumitomo Corp.», «Marubeni», «Sojits Corp.», «JGC», as well as with the head of the Japanese sector of the Turkmen-Japanese Committee for Economic Cooperation, Chairman of the Board of the company “Rönesans Holding”. On the same day, esteemed Arkadag held a number of bilateral meetings with the heads of large Japanese companies. During the mentioned meetings, the Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty of Milli Gengesh Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov noted the expediency of updating the Roadmap of Cooperation in the field of infrastructure in Turkmenistan and enrich it with new relevant projects, in order to sign this document at the 14th meeting of the Turkmen-Japanese Committee for economic cooperation.

The importance of considering the issue of attracting Japanese companies to export high-value-added products from Turkmenistan was also noted.

Along with that, the urgency of diversifying the joint financing mechanism was emphasized, in particular, the creation of a special account for safe settlements between the buyer and the seller of the Escrow Account.

Interest was expressed in using various forms of project financing with payment for output, direct investment and others.

At the same time, interest was shown in studying the Japanese experience in green and hydrogen energy and in creating modern high-tech industries focused on the release of competitive products.

It was also proposed to study the possibility of attracting small and medium-sized Japanese enterprises to do business in Turkmenistan and accordingly, Turkmen ones in Japan.

On the same day, Chairman of the upper house of the Parliament of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov took part in the state funeral ceremony of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, while honoring the memory of the deceased and laying the flowers at his grave.

Following that, the Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty of Milli Gengesh Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and his wife expressed condolences and sympathy to Mrs.Akie Abe, widow of Shinzo Abe.

On September 28, the Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty of the Milli Gengesh of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov met with Prime Minister of Japan Fumio Kishida.

In frames of the meeting, esteemed Arkadag conveyed greetings and best wishes from the Head of state to Prime Minister of the friendly country, stressing that cooperation with Japan is one of the priority vectors of Turkmenistan’s foreign policy.

The Head of the Japanese Government conveyed to the President Serdar Berdimuhamedov and all the Turkmen people congratulations and best wishes on the Independence Day of Turkmenistan.

The sides discussed the current state and prospects for the development of interstate cooperation.

At the same time the parties noted the need for further work on potential projects, taking into account the implementation in Turkmenistan of large-scale and long term programs aimed at industrialization and diversification of the national economy and the creation of modern science-intensive high tech industries and industrial enterprises focused on the production of high-quality competitive products on the world market.

Along with this the importance of interaction between our countries at the level of parliaments, which plays an important role in improving the legal framework of bilateral cooperation, was emphasized.

It was noted that there are prospects for developing cooperation within the framework of the “Central Asia+Japan” format.

Speaking about the fact that Turkmenistan attaches great importance to the development of cooperation in the field of transport and communications with Japan, it was stressed that it is expedient to study the possibilities of organizing air traffic between our countries.

On the same day, Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty of Milli Gengesh of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov met with Chairman of the Parliamentary League of Turkmen-Japanese Friendship, member of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of Japan Endo Toshiaki, within which the parties exchanged views on a wide range of development of bilateral relations.

On September 29, the Turkmen delegation headed by Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty of the Milli Gengesh Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov visited the Tokyo Equestrian Complex, where representatives of the State Association “Turkmen atlary” discussed with their Japanese counterparts issues of further development of horse breeding industry, intensification of cooperation in this field and exchange of experience. Then the members of the Turkmen delegation were acquainted with the structure of the Tokyo equestrian complex, the methods of training jockeys and training horses, as well as the infrastructure conditions.

Within the framework of the working visit, the meetings of the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan with the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan, representatives of the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Turkmenistan with Japanese businessmen, heads of the State Bank for Foreign Economic Affairs of our country with Japanese colleagues, Chairman of the State Concern "Türkmenhimiýa" with the head of the company «JATECO», the mayor of the new administrative center of the Ahal region with the authorities of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, were held

During the meetings were discussed topical aspects of political, diplomatic, trade and economic spheres, in particular, the prospects for further cooperation in business and trade, the banking and financial industry, the chemical industry, and urban planning.