Baku, Azerbaijan, July 20
Trend:
The meeting of Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov with UN Secretary-General António Guterres has been held in the headquarters of the UN, within the framework of the ongoing visit of the delegation of Turkmenistan to New York, the Embassy of Turkmenistan in Azerbaijan said in a statement July 20.
Guterres noted the close and constructive cooperation of Turkmenistan with the UN in various areas. He stressed the role of Turkmenistan in the issues of security, refugees, migration, Turkmenistan's support for the United Nations Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA). He also noted the active participation of Turkmenistan in the work of the United Nations High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) this year.
Serdar Berdimuhamedov thanked the secretary general for the meeting and extended his greetings on behalf of the president of Turkmenistan to the secretary general for his contribution to strengthening cooperation between Turkmenistan and the UN. The deputy minister highlighted Guterres's visit to Turkmenistan in 2017, during which he took part in the high-level dialogue on the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. He said Turkmenistan began to develop the third phase of the Joint Action Plan to combat terrorism together with the Central Asian countries with the support of UN agencies.
Berdimuhamedov said the delegation of Turkmenistan addressed the general debate of the Ministerial segment of the high-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development July 18. The head of the delegation noted that the implementation of the Agenda 2030 is one of the priorities for Turkmenistan. In particular, it was stressed that Turkmenistan, with the support of UN agencies, was one of the first states to start adapting the SDGs to their national plans.
In his turn, Guterres noted the successful activity of Turkmenistan in the implementation of the SDGs, the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy at the regional and national levels, the expansion of cooperation with the countries of the region on many issues relevant to the world community.
The members of the delegation of Turkmenistan met with the Administrator of the UN Development Program Achim Steiner in the second half of the day.
Steiner warmly welcomed the delegates and stressed the productive cooperation of Turkmenistan with UNDP for many years. He noted the constructive interaction between Turkmenistan and UNDP on a wide range of issues being on international agenda, especially on the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals.
The Turkmen delegation noted the importance of cooperation with UNDP in the framework of the signed partnership programs, in particular in the area of successful implementation of joint projects.
It was noted that Turkmenistan plans to present a National Voluntary Review of the Sustainable Development Goals during the high-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in 2019. Steiner, for his part, stressed that the UN Development Program is ready to assist Turkmenistan in the preparation of this report.
In addition, Steiner received another invitation to participate in high-level events within the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea.