BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 18
By Jeila Aliyeva - Trend:
European Union’s objectives are to improve the living standards of the people of Turkmenistan, promote democratic reforms and support implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, EU Ambassador to Turkmenistan Diego Ruiz Alonso told Trend.
Talking about EU’s partnership with Turkmenistan from 2016 through 2020, the ambassador noted that the EU and its national partners have implemented several bilateral projects, including the support to education system, strengthening the capacity of the Civil Service Academy, agricultural project (SARD III) and several regional projects, including BOMCA (on borders), or CADP (on drugs).
"The EU has invested dozens of millions of euro in promotion of educational opportunities and civil service reform, sustainable agriculture that meets the European standards, prevents the climate change and ensures high quality of the products. The EU supports development of small and medium enterprises (through EBRD) and there is an ERASMUS+ office in Ashgabat, promoting educational opportunities for all," added the ambassador.
"The EU strategy for Central Asia considers regional integration a fundamental objective and in that sense we have designed different regional projects that are also interesting for Turkmenistan," he noted.
The ambassador pointed out that Turkmenistan is already participating in some ongoing projects and the sides are now discussing ways of cooperation in new initiatives like "Ready for Trade" or "Law Enforcement in Central Asia".
"Also we are working together with the national partners on promotion of economic opportunities for business, strengthening export potential, improving investment climate and combating economic crimes. There is a very important regional project on countering violent extremism (STRIVE ASIA). Moreover, the EU has included Turkmenistan in his response to fight the spread of COVID19 (CCRCA program). However, I would say that the most important single event of that period is the opening of a full fledge Delegation of the EU in Turkmenistan. That put our bilateral relation in a different and higher level," concluded the ambassador.
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