Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, July 16 / Trend H. Hasanov /
Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov will pay an official visit to the Swiss Confederation in October 2012, the Turkmen government reported today with reference to Swiss President Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf's greetings addressed to the Turkmen leader.
'I look forward to our meeting in Bern within your upcoming official visit in October this year which will benefit Turkmenistan and the Swiss Confederation, becoming the contribution to the joint Turkmen-Swiss efforts to further intensify fruitful bilateral relations based on mutual trust and will determine new areas of cooperation of mutual interest', a letter said that was dedicated to the 20th anniversary of establishing official relations between the countries.
The information also quoted Widmer-Schlumpf as saying that Switzerland is committed to further development of its relations with Turkmenistan in the political, economic and cultural fields.
Vice-President and Minister of Finance of the Swiss Confederation, Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, was received by the Turkmen leader on a visit to Turkmenistan in September 2011.
'A specific topic of conversation was the discussion of the possibilities of inter-state cooperation on a number of key areas, including the fuel-energy sector, the economy and investment and tourism, where Switzerland has rich experience', the message said.
Turkmenistan implements more than 10 projects with Swiss capital. Generally they relate to the services in the fuel-energy complex and supply of electrical equipment and trade relations. Cooperation has been established in the field of advanced technologies. In particular, the Turkmen Academy of Sciences signed a contract with Globe Interstar AG (Swiss Confederation) to purchase seismic equipment and stations.
Head of the Turkmen Central Bank Tuvakmamed Japarov visited Bern to develop cooperation with the Swiss National Bank in November 2011.
Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey visited Ashgabat in 2009 during her tour to Central Asia. Issues of cooperation, including energy were discussed at the meetings with the Turkmen leader.
Turkmenistan supplies natural gas to Russia, Iran and China. The agenda includes the issues of joining the European market with the Nabucco project usually associated with this direction. Europe will connect the opportunity of diversifying energy sources with its realisation.