On July 17, 2023, at the UN Headquarters, within the framework of the High-Level Forum on Sustainable Development, the Permanent Mission of Turkmenistan to the UN organized 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 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, the Permanent Representative of Turkmenistan to the UN A.Atayeva noted that it is important for countries to exchange experiences in order to accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. 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 M.Byashimova noted in her speech that our state, promoting initiatives to strengthen transport sustainability in the international arena, laid the foundation for a multilateral dialogue in this area, through the relevant resolutions of the UN General Assembly and acted as the organizer of a number of forums. Thus, in 2016, the first Global Conference on Sustainable Transport was held in Turkmenistan, and in 2022 - the Ministerial Transport Conference for Landlocked Developing Countries.
Presenting the city of Arkadag, M.Byashimova emphasized that the project of the new city is aimed primarily at solving the main task of the socio-economic development of Turkmenistan - improving the welfare and living conditions of the population. She noted that the smart city project was an indicator of the serious efforts being made by 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 emphasized their readiness to continue to cooperate with the Government of Turkmenistan on the implementation of this large-scale project in close partnership with the UN specialized agencies. The speeches also noted the importance of the resolution of the UN General Assembly adopted at the initiative of Turkmenistan on declaring November 26 as the World Sustainable Transport Day, as well as the high-level meeting of the 78th session of the General Assembly on sustainable transport that is to be held in November this year.
The proposal of Turkmenistan 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 a focus on strengthening the sustainability of urban transport systems was supported.
At the end of the event, bilateral meetings of the delegation of Turkmenistan with the Executive Director of the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) Maimunah Mohd Sharif and the Deputy Executive Secretary of the UNECE Dmitry Maryasin were held.
During the meetings, further ways of expanding partnerships, 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.
