On January 16-17, 2023, the round of political consultations between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan and the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs of the French Republic was held in the Foreign Ministry of Turkmenistan.
The delegation of Turkmenistan was headed by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Vepa Hajiyev, and the French side was headed by Deputy Director of the Department of Continental Europe of the French Foreign Ministry Sylvain Guiaugue.
Within the framework of the held meetings, a wide range of issues of bilateral cooperation in the political, trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian spheres was discussed.
The parties noted the importance of intensifying contacts at the highest and high levels in strengthening the political dialogue between the countries.
Special attention was paid to the further development of inter-parliamentary relations.
The high level of cooperation within the framework of international and regional organizations was stated, interaction through the United Nations was considered. A separate topic of the meeting was the interaction within the European Union, as well as the implementation of the points of the “EU Strategy for Central Asia”. At the same time, mutual interest was expressed to continue the dialogue in the humanitarian dimension this year.
The diplomats exchanged views on the international agenda and touched upon some aspects of international energy and environmental security.
The parties agreed to maintain the practice of regular meetings on foreign policy, as well as to give impetus to the expansion of the legal framework.
In the context of discussing new ways of developing trade and economic relations, the expediency was expressed to intensify the activities of the Intergovernmental Turkmen-French Commission on economic cooperation and the Working Group on Energy. A detailed exchange of views also took place on increasing the volume of trade and promising joint business projects. Communication sphere was designated as one of the important areas of trade and economic cooperation.
During the negotiations, the diplomats expressed a number of proposals for the further intensification of cultural and humanitarian cooperation, paying special attention to archeology and museum work. The positive dynamics of holding cultural events in our country was noted. In addition, the special role of the “French Institute” in the study of the French language in our country was emphasized, which has been successfully functioning in Ashgabat.
The visit of the French delegation has been continuing, during which a number of meetings are planned in the ministries and state agencies of Turkmenistan.