On 17 July, 2023, within the framework of the High-level Forum on Sustainable Development, the Permanent Mission of Turkmenistan to the UN hosted an event on the theme “Sustainable Urban Transport: Preparation for the High-Level Meeting of the UN General Assembly on Sustainable Transport and the model of the city of Arkadag for the implementation of SDG 11″, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan reports. The venue of the event was the UN headquarter.
The event was attended by UN Under-Secretary-General, Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, Deputy Executive Director of the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) Michal Mlynar, Deputy Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Dmitry Maryasin, Deputy to the Director General and the Managing Director of the Directorate of Technical Cooperation and Sustainable Industrial Development (UNIDO) Ciyong Zou, Director Intergovernmental Affairs, of the UN Environment Programme of the New York office (UNEP) Jamil Ahmad, Executive Secretary of the International Center for Transport Diplomacy (ICTD) Igor Runov, as well as representatives of the UN Department Economic and Social Affairs and the Partnership for Sustainable Low-Carbon Transportation (SLOCAT).
Opening the meeting, Permanent Representative of Turkmenistan to the UN Aksoltan Atayeva noted that it is important for countries to exchange experiences in order to accelerate the implementation of the Agenda for the period up to 2030. She stressed that in the near future Turkmenistan will present its second Voluntary National Review, which will highlight its progress in achieving the SDGs.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Myahri Byashimova emphasized that Ashgabat, by promoting initiatives to strengthen transport sustainability in the international arena, laid the foundation for a multilateral dialogue in this area through relevant resolutions of the UN General Assembly and by organizing a number of forums.
Thus, in 2016, Turkmenistan hosted the first Global Conference on Sustainable Transport, and in 2022 – the Ministerial Transport Conference for Landlocked Developing Countries.
The project of the new city of Arkadag is aimed, first of all, at addressing the main task of socio-economic development of Turkmenistan – improving the welfare and housing conditions of the population, Byashimova continued.
She noted that the smart city project has become an indicator of the serious efforts of the Government of Turkmenistan in the field of modern urban planning, the introduction of advanced methods and technologies, in the field of public health and digital medicine, achieving environmental sustainability and reducing environmental impact.
The participants of the event expressed their readiness to continue to cooperate with the Government of Turkmenistan on the implementation of this large-scale project in close partnership with specialized UN agencies. The speeches also noted the importance of the UN General Assembly resolution adopted on the initiative of Turkmenistan on the announcement of 26 November as the World Day of Sustainable Transport, as well as the High-level Meeting of the 78th Session of the General Assembly on Sustainable Transport.
Turkmenistan’s proposal to hold joint meetings of the Group of Friends of Sustainable Transport, co-chaired by Turkmenistan, and the Group of Friends of UN-Habitat with an emphasis on strengthening the sustainability of urban transport systems was supported.
At the end of the event, the Turkmen delegation held bilateral meetings with the Executive Director of the UN-Habitat Program Maimuna Mohd Sharif and Deputy Executive Secretary of the UNECE Dmitry Maryasin.
During the meetings, further ways of expanding partnership, interaction with organizations of the UN system and prospects for implementing joint initiatives in the field of transport, energy, water resources management, ecology and urban development were discussed.///nCa, 18 July 2023
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