BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 7
By Jeila Aliyeva - Trend:
The European Union (EU) is happy to share its vision for the post-COVID-19 recovery with partner countries including Turkmenistan, hoping to inspire their own recovery plans, and stand ready to assist with their implementation, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the European Union in Turkmenistan Diego Ruiz Alonso told Trend.
The ambassador pointed out that the COVID-19 pandemic spared no country and its consequences are felt also in Turkmenistan.
“I am pleased that we managed to keep up the dialogue with Turkmenistan and those important meetings could take place this year despite the COVID-19 pandemic: the EU-Turkmenistan Human Rights Dialogue on 18 June and the Joint Committee meeting on 25 June, were held by videoconference. It is very important to continue cooperation on topics like human rights and economic development, as these areas will be crucial in addressing the consequences of the pandemic,” added the ambassador.
The EU ambassador stressed that the government of Turkmenistan and other countries of the region showed solidarity and willingness to address this challenge jointly and made efforts to assure the undisrupted flow of essential goods, including medical supplies.
The EU has also played its part: on 15 July 2020, the EU launched a comprehensive EUR 3 million COVID-19 Crisis Response solidarity package, addressing the needs of three Central Asian countries Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, and Turkmenistan. The package will assist in the immediate fight against COVID-19 and it will be implemented by the WHO.
“The EU encourages all countries of the region, including Turkmenistan, to cooperate with the WHO in an open and transparent way, as having objective information on the epidemiological situation helps design an adequate response,” he said.
But more efforts will be needed, and the EU stands ready to assist partners in the post-COVID-19 recovery. The pandemic will inevitably affect the economic growth and the living standards, especially of the young generation entering the employment markets, and people in vulnerable situations.
“We would like to turn this challenge into an opportunity to renew economic growth by putting more emphasis on the development of green, environmentally friendly technologies. In its communication “The European Green Deal” of December 2019 the Commission outlined a new growth strategy for the European Union which sets the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050, creating at the same time a prosperous society, with a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy. In line with that, we want the post-COVID-19 recovery to be environment friendly, digital, and resilient, as per the recovery plan “Next Generation EU”,” concluded the ambassador.
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