From 26 to 28 November 2024, the United Nations Special Programme for the Economies of Central Asia (SPECA) Economic Forum on the topic “Green development in the SPECA region” and the 19th session of the SPECA Governing Council were held in Dushanbe as part of SPECA 2024 Days.
The forum and session were attended by representatives of the governments of Member States, UN agencies and programmes, relevant international and regional organizations, financial institutions, as well as the private sector, academic circles and civil society.
The Turkmen side was represented by the delegation of Turkmenistan headed by the Deputy Minister of Finance and Economy B. Yalakov.
The agenda of the current forum included issues of “green” economic development of SPECA Member States, in particular, exchange of views in such areas as water and energy security and climate change, transport, “smart” trade, innovations and technologies for sustainable development and gender equality.
Speaking at the forum, the Turkmen side outlined Turkmenistan’s position on a number of key issues. In particular, it was noted that the development of a “green economy”, the use of new environmentally feasible technologies and the development of innovative solutions in the environmental field are priority vectors of the country’s state policy.
The development of renewable energy sources, primarily solar and wind energy, is an important vector to ensure dynamic and sustainable development of the national economy, environmental protection, rational use of natural resources, careful approach to the rich flora and fauna of the country for the next generations of Turkmenistan.
At the same time, it was said that one of the directives of Turkmenistan’s National Strategy on Climate Change on mitigation is the development of measures to reduce methane emissions resulting from the production, transport and distribution of natural gas. Last year, the country joined the Global Methane pledge during the 28th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 28) in Dubai.
It was emphasized that important tasks in the medium term for Turkmenistan and the SPECA region as a whole are: reducing methane emissions, transferring to solar and wind energy, the possibility of producing green hydrogen, implementing measures to improve energy efficiency and energy conservation, the possibility of producing biomass energy, informing the population about the benefits of using renewable energy sources, including an information campaign in the media.
In the statement of the Turkmen side at the 19th Session of the SPECA Governing Council, it was noted that it is necessary to strengthen cooperation between the countries within the framework of the WTO, as trade facilitation in the SPECA region is among the priority issues of cooperation.
In addition, the issue of Turkmenistan’s chairmanship of SPECA in 2025 and the preparation of the relevant Concept and Action Plan was considered at the 19th session of the SPECA Governing Council.
The SPECA Economic Forum 2024 resulted in the adoption of the Outcome Document.
