On July 4, 2024, the National Leader of the Turkmen people, Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov left on a working visit to the Republic of Kazakhstan to participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit. At the Ashgabat International Airport, Hero-Arkadag was seen off by officials.
At the Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport in Astana, where the national flags of the participating countries of the SCO Summit were raised on flagpoles and a guard of honor was formed, the National Leader of the Turkmen people, Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov was met by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan Oljas Bektenov and other officials. Flowers were presented to Hero Arkadag.
In the afternoon, the National Leader of the Turkmen people, Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov proceeded to the Palace of Independence, which became the venue for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit.
Leaders and high-ranking representatives of the SCO member states and countries that have the status of observers and dialogue partners with the Organization arrived in Astana to participate in the Summit. The heads of international and regional organizations, including the, are also invited to the forum.
At the Palace of Independence, the National Leader of the Turkmen people, Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov was warmly welcomed by the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
After the ceremony of joint official photographing of the heads of delegations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit in the «SCO+» format took place in the Great Meeting Hall.
Warmly welcoming those gathered and noting the importance of the current Summit in promoting the agenda of peaceful and harmonious development, which is the primary task of multilateral interaction within the SCO, the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev gave the floor to the meeting participants.
At the beginning of his speech, the National Leader of the Turkmen people, Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov expressed gratitude to the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan for the invitation, hospitality and excellent organization of the Summit.
As Hero-Arkadag noted, this is not the first time that Turkmenistan has attended meetings of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization at the highest level as an honored guest.
Turkmenistan would like to discuss with the SCO the possibility of supporting the initiative to formulate a Global Security Strategy, put forward by President Serdar Berdimuhamedov last September at the plenary meeting of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly. If the response is positive, it would be possible to instruct the foreign policy services of our countries to develop an appropriate plan for political consultations. We count on your support for this proposal, said the National Leader of the Turkmen people.
The National Leader of the Turkmen people expressed confidence in the presence of all the prerequisites for building sustainable, main routes of partnership along the East-West and North-South lines. In terms of the transport and transit segment, Hero-Arkadag identified a route through Central Asia from China to Europe and the Middle East.
Continuing the topic, Hero-Arkadag noted that there are prospects for the participation of the SCO states in the context of combining the resource, economic and transport potentials of Central Asia, India and Pakistan.
Hero-Arkadag invited interested SCO states to consider the parameters of their participation in energy and communications projects in Afghanistan initiated by Turkmenistan. We are talking about the implementation of projects for the construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline, power lines and fiber-optic communications along the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan route.
Among other important areas of cooperation with the SCO, trade, industrial cooperation, agriculture, the «green» agenda and partnership in the field of information technology were highlighted. Models of cross-border and regional business partnerships involving small and medium-sized businesses look promising.
Along with this, Hero-Arkadag noted, Turkmenistan expresses its desire to expand and intensify humanitarian, scientific and educational ties. The speech of Hero-Arkadag was listened to with deep attention.
On the same day, Hero-Arkadag took part in the opening ceremony of the monument to the great poet and thinker of the East Magtymguly Fragi, erected in Astana.
As part of the working visit of the National Leader of the Turkmen people, Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, members of the delegation of Turkmenistan held a number of meetings in Astana with their Kazakh colleagues. The subject of a detailed discussion was the further development of mutually beneficial bilateral cooperation in various sectors.
