On the 3rd of November the National Leader of the Turkmen people, Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov met with the Assistant Secretary of State of the United States of America for South and Central Asian Affairs Paul Kapur.

Expressing gratitude for the opportunity of a personal meeting, the guest noted that the United States attaches great importance to the consistent development of cooperation with Turkmenistan. Also stressing that he was impressed by the architectural appearance of the Turkmen capital, Paul Kapur conveyed warm greetings and best wishes to the Hero-Arkadag and the President Serdar Berdimuhamedov from the President of the United States of America, Donald Trump.

Warmly welcoming the guest, the Hero-Arkadag extended best wishes in return to the President Donald Trump, noting that during the visit to our country the Assistant Secretary of State will take part in the Turkmen-American political consultations.

Expressing confidence that these consultations will give impetus to the further strengthening of the friendly interstate dialogue, the National Leader of the Turkmen people wished the guest fruitful talks and a successful visit.

As was emphasised in the continuation of the meeting, relations between Turkmenistan and the United States of America, developing progressively on the basis of mutual understanding, respect and trust, are multifaceted in nature and cover the political-diplomatic, trade-economic and cultural-humanitarian spheres.

Noting that the United States consistently supports the independence and the legal status of permanent neutrality of Turkmenistan, the Hero-Arkadag expressed gratitude to the American side in this regard.

For his part, Paul Kapur stressed that the United States of America respects the permanent neutrality of our country, also noting its significant role in strengthening universal peace. Along with this, the guest highly praised Turkmenistan’s cooperation with the United Nations.

Speaking about political and diplomatic relations, the National Leader of the Turkmen people noted that in recent years an active political dialogue has been conducted between the two states. As was emphasised, a vivid example of this is the working visit of the President of Turkmenistan in November of last year to the capital of the USA, Washington, to take part in the Summit in the «C5+1» format. During the visit, productive meetings were held with the President of the United States of America, Donald Trump. An exchange of views took place on the current state of Turkmen-American relations and prospects for their development.

Noting among important events his visit to the US state of Florida in February of this year, the Hero-Arkadag also stressed the significance of the recent meeting of the foreign ministers of the Central Asian countries and the Secretary of State of the United States of America in the «C5+1» format in the city of Samarkand of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the context of developing political dialogue and multilateral cooperation at the regional level.

At the same time, active contacts are maintained between the foreign policy agencies of the two countries.

The bilateral trade and economic partnership is also fruitful in nature. Our country has accumulated many years of positive experience of interaction with such American companies as Nicklaus Design, John Deere, Case New Holland and Boeing.

The «Turkmenistan–USA» Business Council is also in operation, the latest meeting of which was held recently in Ashgabat.

Possessing rich natural resources, Turkmenistan is implementing a strategy of diversifying energy supply routes, advocating the development of mutually beneficial cooperation on the basis of equal consideration of the interests of producers, consumers and transit countries. Speaking about this, the National Leader of the Turkmen people stressed that in our country the attention and support provided by the United States of America in the implementation of the trans-national Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India gas pipeline project, which has great prospects in the region in terms of energy, are highly valued.

Stating the existence of broad opportunities for bilateral cooperation in such areas as the energy sector and the transport and logistics sphere, the Hero-Arkadag also noted that Turkmenistan intends to continue supporting the development of cultural and humanitarian ties that contribute to bringing our peoples closer together.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the National Leader of the Turkmen people, Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and the Assistant Secretary of State of the United States of America for South and Central Asian Affairs Paul Kapur, confirmed the readiness of both countries to further develop long-term and multifaceted cooperation, addressing best wishes to each other.

State News Agency of Turkmenistan