In the regular weekly business digest of Turkmenportal, read about the main economic events in Turkmenistan last week.

The agenda includes the country's Investment Program for 2024, plans to launch new production facilities in industry and agriculture, record performance by oil producing companies and the merchant marine fleet at the end of 2023.

The issue also contains news about expanding energy cooperation between Turkmenistan and Iran, optimizing cargo transportation between countries and increasing exports of agricultural products to Russia.

Investment program of Turkmenistan for 2024

At a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan on January 19, Deputy Prime Minister Baymyrat Annamammedov reported on the preparation of the Investment Program of Turkmenistan for 2024.

The document included large-scale infrastructure projects - the continuation of the construction of the strategic TAPI gas pipeline, a new airport in the Balkan velayat, and a combined power plant with a capacity of 1574 MW.

It is also planned to implement such large projects as the “Ashgabat-Turkmenabat” international highway and a bridge across the Garabogaz kol Bay. The second stage of construction of the region’s first innovative “smart city” will be carried out in the city of Arkadag.

In addition, significant investments will be directed to the construction of social facilities, such as residential buildings, hospitals, schools, kindergartens, roads and utility networks.

Industry

The Ministry of Industry and Construction Production of Turkmenistan is considering the possibility of building a plant for the production of ferroalloys. It is expected that the new plant will produce such popular materials as ferrosilicon, silicon carbide and technical silicon.

At the same time, the Ministry of Industry of Turkmenistan is assessing the project for the construction of a plant for the production of heat and sound insulating boards and mats, as well as continuous fibers. The plant is planned to be built in the village of Jebel, Balkan velayat.

Fuel and Energy Complex

Iranian Oil Minister Javad Ovji visited Turkmenistan. At the meeting with President Serdar Berdimuhamedov, it was noted that oil and gas specialists from the two countries will look for new forms and methods of cooperation. During negotiations with the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, a desire was expressed to expand interaction between energy departments.

In 2023, the Turkmenbashy oil processing complex sent 2 million 760 thousand tons of petroleum products to Turkmen consumers, and 1,3 million tons for export. The complex produced various types of gasoline, kerosene, diesel fuel, fuel oil, motor oils, polypropylene, heating oil, coke, liquefied gas and many other petroleum products.

Specialists of the oil and gas production department “Gumdagneft” of the state concern “Turkmenneft” set a new record for oil production in 2023, extracting more than 580.8 thousand tons of black gold. This is 15,5% more than in 2022.

The “Avaza” state power plant fulfilled the electricity generation plan by 104%, transmitting more than 1 billion 133 million kilowatt-hours of electricity to consumers.

Freight transportation

The customs departments of Turkmenistan and Iran discussed the optimization of road freight transport through the “Artyk” – “Loftabad” crossing. At the meeting, specific measures to simplify transportation were discussed, in particular, increasing the working hours of authorized persons, speeding up the issuance of visas for truck drivers and reducing inspection times.

In 2023, CJSC “Marine Merchant Fleet” transported more than 2 million tons of cargo to foreign ports of the Caspian Sea and delivered from there to its home port - oil products, building materials, fertilizers, grain, containers, bulk and other domestic and transit cargo.

Trade

In 2024, the priority of the State Commodity and Raw Materials Exchange of Turkmenistan will be the introduction of advanced methods of conducting electronic trading, and the country’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry will be the organization of exhibitions and conferences using modern technologies.

Agriculture

Since the beginning of 2024, Turkmenistan has supplied 2 thousand tons of fresh tomatoes to the Moscow region, securing the status of one of the largest suppliers of these products to Russia. 116 trucks with Turkmen tomatoes successfully passed phytosanitary control.