Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, July 19 /Trend H.Hasanov/
President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov received the EU Special Representative for Central Asia Pierre Morel, who is completing his work in this position and the newly appointed EU Special Representative for the region Patricia Flor, Altin Asir TV channel said on Thursday.
The Turkmen leader noted the continued steady active development of mutual dialogue.
As noted, the establishment of close contacts with the European community has been and remains one of the main directions of Turkmenistan's foreign policy strategy.
The two sides exchanged views on possibilities of cooperation, primarily in the energy sector - a strategic sector for the national economy of Turkmenistan whose development is of great importance.
"Today, we are investing heavily in large scale energy projects, including exploration and commercial development of the largest oil and gas fields", the president said, noting that this fact "is a kind of guarantee of strict and full compliance of Turkmenistan to undertake partnership commitments and the successful implementation of major new energy projects. "
Flor noted the full commitment of EU member states to intensify cooperation in several key areas, including political, economic, humanitarian and ecological.
It is expected that Turkmenistan can provide security of supply to world markets including Europe due to expansion with the participation of foreign companies' industrial development of the Galkynysh field, recognised as one of the largest pockets of natural gas occurrence in the world.
In addition, Turkmengaz began to build its own internal East-West pipeline, whose goal is to bring together the rich resources in the east of the country to the coast of the Caspian Sea. Ashgabat finds it an attractive option of delivering natural resources to European markets through the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan and Turkey.