Prospects for further development of relations between Turkmenistan and the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) were discussed today in the “Avaza” National Tourist Zone at a meeting of the Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of the country, Minister of Foreign Affairs Rashid Meredov with the Secretary General of this organization Naif Falah Mubarak Al-Hajraf, the information program "Watan" of the Turkmen television reported.

The GCC is a regional, intergovernmental, political and economic union that includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The organization, headquartered in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, was established on May 25, 1981.

Secretary General of the GCC Naif Falah Mubarak Al-Hajraf arrived in Turkmenistan as part of a Central Asian tour, during which he will also visit Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.

During the talks with Naif Falah Mubarak Al-Hajraf, which was also attended by the Director General of the Transport and Communications Agency under the Cabinet of Ministers and vice-premiers in charge of the fuel and energy complex, trade and services, it was emphasized that building up a fruitful partnership with Arab states of the Persian Gulf, both in bilateral and multilateral formats, is one of the priorities of the foreign policy of Turkmenistan.

In this context, great importance is attached to expanding mutually beneficial cooperation and strengthening friendly ties between the countries and peoples of the region.

The importance of intensifying cooperation in the field of transport and logistics, as well as intensifying cooperation in the energy sector, further expanding the range of goods and services, and increasing the volume of mutual trade turnover was noted.

During the meeting, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan and the General Secretariat of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf on the consultation mechanism.

At the end of the meeting, the interlocutors expressed confidence in the existence of great prospects for cooperation between Turkmenistan and the GCC.