Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, March 18
By Huseyn Hasanov- Trend:
A workshop dedicated to the establishment of the Japanese-Turkmen Association for Scientific and Technological Cooperation was held in Tokyo, the Turkmen government said on March 18.
It was stressed that Turkmenistan is interested in forming a partnership in scientific-technological and industrial areas.
Eighty representatives of the Japanese scientific elite, large companies and special fund personnel attended the workshop. For Japanese parliamentarians it was their first time.
Turkmen-Japanese cooperation is seen an important component in the context of developing relations between Turkmenistan and the Asia-Pacific region as a whole. The two countries are seeking to use their potential, as well as the geopolitical and geo-economic advantages. They think that Japan's high technologies and Turkmenistan's rich natural resources are complementary.
Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov's official visits to Tokyo in 2009 and 2013 gave an impetus to relations with Japan. During the first visit, a number of intergovernmental documents and contracts were signed with such Japanese companies as JGC Corporation, ITOCHU Corporation, Kawasaki Plant Systems, Ltd and Sojitz Corporation, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Mitsubishi Corporation and the Asahi Kasei Chemicals Corporation.
The contracts were signed with Japanese companies for the construction of a number of large industrial enterprises worth over $10 billion during the Turkmen president's recent visit.
Turkmenistan has rich experience of cooperation with Japanese investors. Their participation in the modernisation projects for a fuel and energy complex and in particular, the renovation worth about $2 billion of the country's largest oil refinery in Turkmenbashi is significant.
In this regard, Turkmenistan is actively cooperating with the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). Several documents, including a memorandum of understanding were signed between the Turkmengaz State Concern and the Japanese National Corporation for Oil, Gas and Metals in Tokyo in September 2013.
Translated by NH
Edited by SM