Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Nov. 5
By Huseyn Hasanov- Trend: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko starts his official visit to Turkmenistan today. The president plans to meet Turkmen counterpart Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and sign a package of the inter-governmental documents, a source close to the negotiations said today.
According to the source, the government delegation led by Belarusian Deputy Prime Minister Anatoly Kalinin held talks with Turkmen Deputy Prime Minister Babaniyaz Italmazov and Baimurad Khodzhamuhammedov in late September. Delegation members also held the talks with the heads of the Turkmenstandartlari state service, the Turkmen State Insurance Organisation, the Turkmen Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Justice and Turkmenhimiya State Concern.
According to the Belarusian government, representatives from both countries discussed the implementation of the intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the fields of standardization, metrology, certification and accreditation, as well as coordination on a draft protocol of the intergovernmental joint commission on economic cooperation in the Garlyk mining and processing plant.
Currently, some 15 enterprises with Belarusian capital are operating in Turkmenistan. About 13 investment projects worth $1.123 billion with the participation of Belarus companies were registered in the country.
According to the message, the key issue is a large project for the construction of a potash fertiliser production plant with a capacity of 1-1.5 million tons per year. The project is to be implemented by Belgorkhimprom Company.
The automotive and agricultural machinery of the Minsk automobile and tractor plants are regularly supplied to Turkmenistan. Around 6000 Turkmen citizens are being educated in various regions of Belarus.
According to the Turkmen government, President Berdimuhamedov at a recent government meeting stressed the significance of the Belarusian president's upcoming official visit and the bilateral summit talks designed to give a new impetus to the further development of the inter-state relations and mutually beneficial multifaceted partnership, meeting the interests of both countries and people.