Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, May 26 / Trend H. Hasanov /
Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov signed a decree on the appointment of heads of diplomatic missions in Belarus, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Murad Yazberdiev was appointed Turkmen Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador to the Republic of Belarus, Chinar Rustemova - to Tajikistan, Shiri Shiriev - to Uzbekistan.
Turkmenistan and Belarus have recently intensified cooperation. The volume of bilateral trade increased by 2.6 times and hit $210.3 million in 2011 compared to 2010.
There are 15 enterprises with Belarusian capital in Turkmenistan. About 13 investment projects worth $ 1 billion 123 million with participation of Belarusian companies were registered in our country.
A key project is a major project to build a potash fertilizer manufacturing plant with a capacity from 1 to 1.5 million tons per year. Belgorkhimprom company implements the project in Turkmenistan.
Automotive and agricultural machinery of the Minsk automobile and tractor plants are regularly supplied to Turkmenistan.
Ashgabat and Dushanbe consider such sectors as energy, agriculture as the priorities for trade and economic cooperation, as well as transport and communication sector taking into account geographic location and transit potential of both countries.
Tajikistan experiences a shortage of energy resources. Turkmenistan is the largest supplier in Central Asia. The existing transport infrastructure allows Ashgabat to export electricity to Turkey, Afghanistan, Iran and Central Asia.
Following the recent cessation of gas supplies from Uzbekistan, official Dushanbe expects to gain access to Turkmenistan's energy resources, including natural fuel.
Earlier it was reported that Tajikistan wants to increase supplying Turkmen oil products to the country. The country depends on imports from Russia, which has increased the export duty by several times. This led to a jump in prices in the domestic food market, spurring inflation.
Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are connected by a number of major projects. In December 2009 a gas pipeline was opened from Turkmenistan to China via Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. The parties consider possible cooperation in the implementation of the railway project, which would connect Central Asia with Persian Gulf countries.
The sides regularly exchange the views on prospects for cooperation in such areas as production and supply of industrial, power equipment, agricultural machinery, construction materials, the food, light and pharmaceutical industries.