Today, the scientific and practical conference “Caspian Sea: Partnership for Sustainable Development”, dedicated to the Day of the Caspian Sea, starts in Turkmenistan.

On this occasion, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov addressed congratulations to the conference participants, TDH reports.

“Turkmenistan regularly comes up with strategically significant initiatives to build up trade, economic and socio-cultural ties in the Caspian region. They are gaining widespread support from the Caspian states. At the same time, we are taking large-scale programmatic steps to transform the Caspian Sea into a zone of peace, trust and environmental well-being,” the Message says.

The first Caspian Summit was held in Ashgabat in 2002 at the initiative of Turkmenistan. This significant event largely predetermined the now solid basis for cooperation between the Caspian states in all areas, and also gave a significant impetus to the resolution of many issues necessary for coordinated regional interaction.

At the same time, the first Caspian Summit played an exceptional role in the subsequent development of a number of multilateral documents on the Caspian Sea, in particular, the Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea.

“Guided by the policy of positive neutrality, Turkmenistan is consistently making efforts to transform the Caspian Sea into a sea of peace, trust and friendship. Our country is committed to increasing close contacts between the Caspian states in energy, transport and logistics, industry and trade,” the President noted.

The current area of interaction on which the Caspian states are focused is the protection of the marine environment and the maintenance of environmental well-being, which together form an amazing biocenosis, sensitive to the effects of negative phenomena, including climate change.

“Turkmenistan calls on the countries of the region and interested international structures to continue joint research to preserve the rich ecosystem and biological diversity of the Caspian Sea. We have also put forward the Caspian Environmental Initiative, which will provide an opportunity for substantive and professional interaction on a wide range of issues in the Caspian region. Its implementation, we are convinced, will allow us to consolidate efforts to maintain environmental well-being and significantly coordinate targeted measures in the future,” the President concluded, wishing the participants good health, long life, prosperity and great success in their work.