From February 25 to 28, 2024, a working visit of the delegation of Turkmenistan to Qatar led by the country’s Minister of Education Bayramgul Orazdurdyeva was held.

The main goal of the bilateral meeting is the effective development of relations in the field of science and education, in particular, strengthening ties between higher educational institutions of the two countries and the implementation of joint projects, writes the publication “Turkmenistan: Golden Age”.

On the first day of the visit, a fruitful meeting was held between the Turkmen delegation and the Minister of Education and Higher Education of Qatar Buthaina bint Ali Al Jabr Al Nuaimi. During the meeting, current issues of cooperation in the field of education, the establishment of active relations between educational institutions of the two countries, and the exchange of professional experience were discussed. It was noted that there are great opportunities to expand and intensify cooperation in friendly countries. Excursions to the National Museum of Qatar and the Museum of Islamic Art were organized for the Turkmen delegation.

Then, within the framework of the visit, a working meeting was held between the rector of the Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, Jumamyrat Gurbangeldiyev, and the head of the Diplomatic Institute of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qatar, Abdulaziz bin Mohammed Al-Horr. The Rector of the IIR of Turkmenistan put forward a number of proposals to strengthen partnerships between institutions, in particular to establish library cooperation, exchange of scientific literature, and conduct joint conferences.

Particular attention was paid to the recently opened training center “Diplomatic Protocol” at the IIR of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan. In this regard, Qatari specialists were offered to conduct classes and online training in this center. It was emphasized that such a practice would contribute to the development of joint research and educational activities aimed at training highly qualified diplomats. During the meeting, the draft “road map” of cooperation prepared by the Turkmen side was also discussed.

Qatari colleagues expressed interest in implementing the initiatives. As a result of the meeting, the parties agreed on joint cooperation in the planned areas. The participants emphasized that this meeting would be a key event in the development of Turkmen-Qatari scientific, educational and cultural ties.

Within the framework of the visit, the Turkmen delegation led by the Minister of Education Bayramgul Orazdurdyeva visited the capital’s “Education City”, where branches of eight international universities are located. Meetings were held with the leaders of the Qatar Foundation, as well as university rectors and the director of the National Library of Qatar.

In addition, the Turkmen delegation visited the national pavilion of Turkmenistan at the EXPO 2023 exhibition in Doha, which takes place in Qatar from October 2023 to March 2024.

All events of the visit made it possible to identify priority areas of bilateral relations and marked new steps in the development of Turkmen-Qatari cooperation in the field of science and education.