On April 22, a meeting of the Council of the Heads of the Founding States of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS) was held in the city of Astana. Speaking at the conference, President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov put forward important proposals to improve the environmental situation in the region and bring cooperation to a new level. The Head of State highly praised the work completed by Kazakhstan during its chairmanship of the fund and noted that the Aral issue is a political and moral responsibility at the international level. This was reported by the "Turkmenistan: Golden Age" electronic newspaper.

The President of Turkmenistan drew attention to the significance of international initiatives previously put forward by the country, including special UN Resolutions on the Aral Sea and the Special Program for the region (UN SPAS). The speech noted that environmental security is inextricably linked to the well-being of the region, and it was announced that the Regional Center for Climate Change Technologies being established in Ashgabat will begin its work in the near future.

President Serdar Berdimuhamedov proposed modernizing the legal and contractual framework of IFAS and intensifying relations with international donors. The need to work together on a new General Assembly Resolution on cooperation between the UN and IFAS was also emphasized, taking into account current geopolitical and economic changes in the world.

At the end of the meeting, the Head of Turkmenistan wished success to the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, who assumed the chairmanship of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea. The conference once again confirmed the readiness of the regional states to act in a united and coordinated manner against environmental threats.