Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, April 23 / Trend H. Hasanov /
For the period from January to March 2013, Turkmenistan's foreign trade turnover amounted to over $5.421 billion reaching 102 per cent compared to the corresponding period of 2012, the Ministry of Economy and Development of the country reported on Tuesday.
According to the report, during the recent year, Turkmenistan has been preserving its balance of foreign trade at a consistently positive level. From 2007 to 2011 the volume of foreign trade in the country increased 2.1 times, while exports grew 1.9 times and imports by 2.6 times.
Turkmenistan's foreign trade turnover in 2012 increased by 21.4 per cent compared to 2011. In turn, exports increased by 19.3 per cent and imports by 24.4 per cent.
The global locations of participants of foreign trade are growing and include more than 100 countries around the world. The main exporting countries are Iran, Russia, China, Georgia, Italy, Turkey and Afghanistan. The dominant importing countries are Turkey, China, Russia, United Arab Emirates, Iran, France and Germany.
There is a growth in the proportion of crude oil and petroleum products, petroleum gases, vegetable oil, textiles, cotton and other commodities exported from the country. Turkmenistan remains the largest natural gas exporter in Central Asia.
Among export oriented industries, the most intensive foreign trade growth is planned to be achieved in the chemical, textile, food, construction materials and agriculture industries.
Diversification and production increase have become an important condition for the growth of the economy. Foreign investments constitute one-third of the total investments in the country. They are mainly invested in the production sector of Turkmenistan.