On July 9, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov received a member of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the United States Senate, Senator from the State of Montana Steve Daines, who arrived in our country on a visit. This was reported by the State News Agency of Turkmenistan.

Having expressed gratitude for the warm reception and hospitality shown to the American delegation, the guest conveyed to the head of state warm greetings and best wishes from the President of America Donald Trump.

Having greeted the guest, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov addressed reciprocal best wishes to the President of the USA. Also wishing Senator Steve Daines a successful visit to our country, the head of state expressed confidence that this visit would give impetus to the further development of friendly Turkmen-American relations.

Taking the opportunity, the President of Turkmenistan once again congratulated the guest and the people of the USA on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the independence of the United States of America.

As was emphasized during the meeting, relations between Turkmenistan and the USA are currently developing consistently on the basis of the principles of mutual respect, mutual understanding, and trust. Bilateral cooperation, which bears a multi-vector character, includes the political-diplomatic, trade-economic, and cultural-humanitarian spheres.

Touching on the topic of political-diplomatic interaction, the head of state noted that in recent years an active political dialogue has been conducted between the two countries.

A vivid example of this is the working visit of the President of Turkmenistan to Washington, made in November of last year for the purpose of participating in the Summit in the "Central Asia + USA" format. Within the framework of the visit, in a conversation with President of the USA Donald Trump, a productive exchange of views took place on the current state and further development of Turkmen-American relations.

The great significance of the visit made in February of this year by the National Leader of the Turkmen people, Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty of Turkmenistan, Hero-Arkadag, to the state of Florida, USA, in strengthening bilateral cooperation was also emphasized. Such high-level dialogue serves as an important political foundation for the progressive development of constructive interstate partnership.

The dynamic nature of interaction between the foreign policy agencies of the two countries was also noted. Regularly held meetings contribute to the exchange of views on topical issues of the international agenda.

Relying on the legal status of permanent neutrality, recognized three times by the UN, Turkmenistan is steadily expanding ties with the states of the world and authoritative international organizations. Noting that on the initiative of our country the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted a number of resolutions aimed at ensuring global peace, security, and mutual trust, as well as at forming infrastructure for the supply of energy resources and transit-transport corridors, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov, taking the occasion, expressed to the United States of America gratitude for support of the policy of positive neutrality being implemented by Turkmenistan.

One of the promising directions of bilateral relations is the trade-economic sphere. In this area, positive experience has been accumulated from many years of partnership with American companies. Over the past years, mutually beneficial cooperation has been established with major US companies in the implementation of important projects in our country.

In this context, the significant contribution of the Turkmenistan-US Business Council to the coordination of economic relations was noted. Recently a meeting of this Council was held in Ashgabat, which created opportunities for representatives of American business circles and their Turkmen partners to discuss new vectors of productive interaction.

During the meeting, the head of state confirmed our country's readiness for cooperation with the USA in such key directions as the fuel and energy complex, transport, the financial and banking sectors, advanced technologies, and artificial intelligence.

As was noted, possessing rich reserves of natural resources, Turkmenistan is implementing a strategy of diversifying energy supply routes, advocating for the development of mutually beneficial partnership based on equal consideration of the interests of producers, consumers, and transit countries.

Touching on the sphere of energy, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov emphasized that our country highly values the attention and support provided by the USA to the implementation of the promising Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) transnational gas pipeline project. Speaking about this, the head of state expressed confidence that this project would contribute to economic development and the strengthening of cooperation in the region.

An important component of Turkmen-American relations is also cooperation in the field of education, science, and culture. For many years, joint programs have been implemented in these spheres. Within the framework of the US State Department's "Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation" Program, various scientific and cultural events are held in our country.

Having noted with satisfaction that within the framework of educational programs Turkmen youth are studying in the USA, and that in recent years bilateral contacts between institutions of higher education have intensified, the head of Turkmenistan confirmed our country's intention to continue strengthening cultural-humanitarian ties that promote the rapprochement of peoples.

In concluding the meeting, having confirmed Turkmenistan's readiness for the further development of long-term multi-vector cooperation with the USA, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov wished Senator Steve Daines great success in his work, and the people of the United States of America — peace and prosperity.