BRIEFING dedicated to the adoption of the UN General Assembly Resolution initiated by Turkmenistan "STRENGTHENING THE LINKS BETWEEN ALL MODES OF TRANSPORT TO ACHIEVE THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS"

On February 15, 2018 in the hall of Press conferences of the Noyan Tapan Information Center the Embassy of Turkmenistan to the Republic of Armenia held a briefing dedicated to the adoption of the UN General Assembly Resolution initiated by Turkmenistan “Strengthening the links between all modes of transport to achieve the sustainable development goals”.

The heads of diplomatic missions and international organizations, diplomats accredited in Armenia, representatives of the Armenian Foreign Ministry, professors of Armenian universities, as well as representatives of the scientific circles and mass media of Armenia attended the event.

The participants of the briefing and the representatives of the media were informed that on December 20, 2017, at the 74th meeting of the 72nd United Nations General Assembly Session, the Resolution initiated by the esteemed President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov "Strengthening the links between all modes of transport to achieve sustainable development goals" was adopted unanimously.  The co-authors of the resolution were 74 states.

It was noted that the resolution reaffirmed the commitment to enhancing the role of sustainable transport and mobility in creating jobs, promoting mobility and improving the efficiency of logistics chains in terms of ensuring access of individuals and communities to work, schools and health services, and the organization of the supply to the rural and urban areas with goods and services, so that everyone had equal opportunity, and nobody was forgotten. Additionally, the resolution encourages efforts to promote regional and interregional economic integration and cooperation, including through improved planning of transport infrastructure and increased mobility, strengthening transport links and facilitate trade and investment. It was also reported that the UN resolution, in fact, is a logical continuation of the gigantic work that Turkmenistan has been carrying out throughout years, creating conditions for the formation of international transport and transit corridors.

The current goals and objectives of the transport policy of the Turkmen state were presented at the briefing. It was noted that the year 2018 was proclaimed as "Turkmenistan is the heart of the Great Silk Road". According to the President of Turkmenistan "By constructing new automobile and railway highways, sea ports and bridges Turkmenistan again revives the Great Silk Road in the third millennium". And this concept is realized not only in the construction of large transport facilities and highways, transit corridors. Independent, neutral Turkmenistan makes a great contribution to the development and strengthening of political, trade-economic and cultural-humanitarian ties in the international arena, expanding the ideological basis of the motto of 2018 "Turkmenistan is the heart of the Great Silk Road" to comprehensive concepts and concepts of peace and cooperation for the sake of creating a better future for all mankind.

The guests of the Briefing were also informed that in recent years Turkmenistan has implemented such grandiose projects as the construction of a new International Airport in the capital Ashgabat, the first stage of the railroad Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran, Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Tajikistan - the Kerki-Ymamnazar-Akin line. The Turkmenbashi sea port, Ashgabat-Turkmenbashi highway, etc. are being built currently. The country creates convenient and safe international corridors with the use of rail, road, air and water transport, which ensures sustainable development of the region, building good-neighborly relations between nations, strengthening cooperation, increasing the trade turnover.

Turkmenistan is turning into the most important intersection of steel trunk lines, a major transport and transit center in Eurasia. Turkmen railway construction workers are actively working on laying the route from the border station Serhetabad in Mary province to the Afghan city of Turgundi. On 29 November 2017, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov launched this very important for the neighboring country project, starting the construction of a railway line that opens up great opportunities by including Afghanistan in the transport and logistics system of Turkmenistan and through it – to the whole region.

It was stated that in Turkmenistan, along with the already implemented pipelines, several large projects are also being carried out successfully. One of these projects is the transnational gas pipeline "Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India", launched in December 2015 with the participation of Esteemed President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, President of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, Prime Minister of Islamic Republic of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif, and Vice President of Republic of India Hamid Ansari. It was also added that very soon, on February 23 solemn events will be held: the launching ceremony of the construction of the next phase of the TAPI gas pipeline on the Turkmen-Afghan border, the laying of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan power line and the opening of the new railroad on the route Serhetabat (Turkmenistan) -Turgundi (Afghanistan).

In general, it was noted that the development of transport communications under the leadership of the Head of the nation is now becoming one of the most important conditions for an effective international partnership. The roads of friendship and constructive partnership that builds Turkmenistan, contribute to the strengthening contacts in the format of such large international and regional structures as the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Organization for Economic Cooperation. The new highways, created with the active participation of Turkmenistan, strengthen the role of our region in ensuring sustainable development in the space of Eurasia.