Turkmenistan is in the process of establishing a national trade facilitation body. On 26 June 2024, a meeting of the Working Group on the establishment of a national trade facilitation body was held at the Ministry of Trade and Foreign Economic Relations of Turkmenistan.
The meeting was attended by representatives of the Ministries of Trade, Finance and Economy, Health, Agriculture, customs, the Main State Service “Turkmenstandardlary” [Turkmen standards] , the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Turkmenistan, the Association “Turkmen Logistics” reports.
This initiative aligns with Turkmenistan’s commitment to the Framework Agreement on the Simplification of Cross-Border Paperless Trade in the Asia-Pacific Region (CPTA), which Turkmenistan joined in May 2022. The Ministry of Trade serves as the national contact agency for CPTA and actively collaborates with other ministries, departments, and international partners like the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ).
In March 2024, the Ministry of Trade and Foreign Economic Relations of Turkmenistan and GIZ signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the “Trade Facilitation in Central Asia” project. This project fosters collaboration among Central Asian countries’ national trade facilitation committees.
Building on this regional cooperation, a Turkmen delegation including a representative from the Association “Turkmen Logistics” participated in a GIZ-organized meeting of National Committees on Trade Facilitation (NCPT) of Central Asian countries held in Almaty this May.
The working group meeting in Turkmenistan discussed priorities and outlined concrete action steps for the near future. ///nCa, 29 June 2024