The prospects of Turkmenistan's cooperation with the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in a number of key areas, particularly, in the fields of transport and energy, disaster risk reduction, were discussed today by Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov and ESCAP Executive Secretary Armida Salsia Alisjahbana by video link. This is reported by the press service of the diplomatic department.

During the meeting, the Turkmen side expressed the words of congratulations on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of ESCAP and noted that the current historic year for the Commission also coincides with the 30th anniversary of Turkmenistan's membership in ESCAP. It was underlined that the joint successes achieved over the past years testify to the high level of relations and partnership between Turkmenistan and this UN Commission.

Meredov expressed gratitude to the leadership of the Commission in the bilateral and multilateral forums held with the participation of Turkmenistan.

In this context, the timely signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Economic Cooperation Organization and ESCAP in November last year, which is another contribution to strengthening the legal framework between Turkmenistan and ESCAP, was noted.

Moreover, the Minister pointed that at the 78th ESCATO session, which will be held in May 2022 in Bangkok in a hybrid format, Turkmenistan will be represented “at a fairly high level”.

At the meeting, the commitment of the Government of Turkmenistan to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Agenda for the period up to 2030 was confirmed and a number of initiatives of the Turkmen side to extend partnership with ESCAP were announced.

The parties also addressed the priority issues caused by the pandemic. It was noted that Turkmenistan is ready to cooperate to overcome its economic, social and financial consequences.

The meeting also considered joint actions taking into account the Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Legal Migration (GCM).

The Foreign Minister informed that the delegation of Turkmenistan will actively participate in the work of the Global Forum on Migration, which will be held from the 17th to 20th of May 2022 in New York.

“Turkmenistan considers this event as another opportunity to consolidate efforts to resolve the global migration agenda, taking into account the changing realities,” Rashid Meredov said.