The newly appointed Ambassador extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Italian Republic to Turkmenistan Luciano Galli presented his credentials to President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov today.

The diplomat conveyed to the head of state warm greetings and congratulations on the upcoming 25th anniversary of Turkmenistan's neutrality from the President and Prime Minister of their country, who addressed their best wishes to the entire Turkmen people.

At the same time, Italy's continued interest in developing fruitful cooperation with Turkmenistan, which is pursuing a constructive foreign policy and taking an active position on international partnership issues, was confirmed.

President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov returned warm greetings to the top leadership of the Italian Republic and congratulated Mr. Luciano Galli on his appointment to a responsible diplomatic post and wished him success in fulfilling this mission.

During the meeting, the head of state and the Italian diplomat exchanged views on the current state and prospects of bilateral cooperation, emphasizing the impressive potential for building and diversifying productive ties in the trade and economic sphere.

President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and the Italian diplomat unanimously identified the fuel and energy sector, the industrial complex, light industry and a number of other sectors as priority areas of cooperation.

A clear indicator of the Turkmen-Italian partnership that has significantly intensified in recent years is the regular nature of relations at the highest level. Thus, an important milestone in promoting the interstate dialogue was the official visit of President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov to the Italian Republic in November 2019. The agreements reached as a result of the high-level talks held in Rome gave qualitatively new incentives and content to the multifaceted bilateral cooperation.

On the eve of the high-level talks, a joint business forum was held in Milan. As a result of the visit, an impressive package of bilateral documents was signed, most of which relate to cooperation in the field of medium and small businesses.

In September of this year, during a telephone conversation with President of the Italian Republic Sergio Mattarella, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov voiced proposals to establish a bilateral Business Council or a corresponding Working group, as well as to hold annual days of the Italian economy in Turkmenistan and open a Trade representative office of our country in Milan.

The humanitarian sphere is certainly an important area of Turkmen-Italian relations. Here, as a clear example, we can cite the long-term joint work of Domestic and Italian scientists-archaeologists on unique historical and cultural monuments located on the territory of Turkmenistan.

We have also established productive contacts with leading specialized centers in Italy, and a number of universities in our country teach Italian on a systematic basis. Given the current challenges, it is important to strengthen cooperation in the field of health.

A permanent platform for implementing joint humanitarian projects could be The cultural Dialogue "Turkmenistan-Italy", which was initiated by the leader of the nation Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov during the above-mentioned telephone conversation with the President of the Italian Republic.

Turkmen-Italian cooperation in the field of culture and art has long-standing good traditions. It is noteworthy that Italy has already had the opportunity to appreciate the skill of the Turkmen horsemen of the group of national equestrian games "Galkynysh".

In October 2014, this well-known group took part in the XVI international festival of circus art, held in the Italian city of Latina.

Having performed with great success, our equestrians, demonstrating the highest level of horsemanship on Akhal-Teke horses, won the main prize of the competition - the gold Cup "Latina-2014". They were also awarded the prizes of this prestigious annual festival - "Di Albacete", "Consegina il Premo", "Comune Di Latina" and the diploma of the Akhal-Teke Association of Italy.

President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov noted that in the Italian Republic, as in our country, riding skills are highly valued, and great interest is shown in the Akhal-Teke and the native traditions of the Turkmen people in breeding the world-famous "heavenly" horses.

Thus, based on the existing diverse potential, with a view to its practical implementation and implementation of the agreements reached, the ongoing joint work on the preparation of the "Road map" of cooperation is seen as promising.

During the conversation, the head of state and the Plenipotentiary representative of Italy also noted the constructive nature of partnership in the format of the UN and other international organizations, where the parties demonstrate mutual understanding, mutual support for the initiatives put forward, as well as proximity or coincidence of positions on topical issues of the regional and global agenda.

At the end of the meeting, expressing deep gratitude to President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov for the attention paid to the development of interstate relations, the diplomat assured that he would do everything possible to strengthen the traditional Turkmen-Italian dialogue of friendship and cooperation, which is built on an equal, trust-based basis and meets mutual long-term interests, the state news Agency of Turkmenistan reports.