On 30 July 2022, the Ministry of Finance and Economy of Turkmenistan hosted a meeting with the ADB Country Director for Turkmenistan Artur Andrysiak.
The main purpose of the meeting was to discuss the prospects of bilateral cooperation.
During the meeting, the minister for finance and economy of Turkmenistan Muhammetgeldy Serdarov noted that the partnership strategy between Turkmenistan and the Asian Development Bank is a good opportunity to determine priorities of collaboration.
According to the minister, in a view of Turkmenistan’s endeavor to join the World Trade Organization, cooperation with the ADB will be useful in improving the country’s legal framework and the professional level of employees. Morover, he noted the importance of the improvement of the investment environment, business support and cooperation in the financial and banking sector.
As the ADB Country Director stressed, the bank cooperates with Turkmenistan in the field of diversification of trade and export markets, in the field of transport and energy, which contributes to strengthening regional ties.
According to Andrysiak, currently, in the light of the development of Turkmenistan-ADB partnership strategy, the ministry’s recommendations are especially important.
He mentioned the ongoing cooperation with Turkmenistan within the framework of the projects of the Institute of Central Asian Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC). The CAREC program covers various areas such as tourism, agriculture, and economic relations. Currently, projects in the transport and energy sectors are being worked out within the framework of this program.
The head of the ADB’s mission stressed that these projects are open for cooperation and expressed readiness to interact in areas of interest to the Turkmen side.
Speaking about Turkmenistan’s obtaining observer status in the WTO, Andrysiak recalled that the Asian Development Bank has been supporting Turkmenistan in efforts to join this organization since 2019. He also noted that the ADB is determined to continue cooperation with Turkmenistan in this area.
Artur Andrysiak said that the Asian Development Bank is ready to provide technical assistance to Turkmenistan in the areas of economic diversification, macroeconomic investment management and structural reforms.
The projects are currently being worked out to support small and medium-sized businesses, especially exporters of the country, to modernize and improve the efficiency of power plants, he added.
For his part, the minister of economy and finance of Turkmenistan expressed readiness to provide appropriate support in the implementation of these projects and further development of cooperation with ADB.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has been a long-standing partner of the government of Turkmenistan, providing assistance crucial to the country’s development needs. The bank’s support program is aligned with the National Strategy for Social and Economic Development of Turkmenistan 2011–2030 and the government’s Development Program 2019–2025, with annual lending averaged at $167 million over 2018–2020.
To date, ADB has committed 13 public sector loans and technical assistance totaling $631.6 million to Turkmenistan. Cumulative loan disbursements to Turkmenistan amount to $312.7 million. ADB’s ongoing sovereign portfolio in Turkmenistan includes 1 loan worth $500 million.
Over the next two years, ADB will start preparing the Country Partnership Strategy for Turkmenistan for 2024-2028.///nCa, 2 August 2022