Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 26 June (BelTA) – Belarus-Turkmenistan relations have big future, Speaker of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus Vladimir Andreichenko said as he met with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Turkmenistan to Belarus Nazarguly Shagulyev, BelTA informs.

According to Vladimir Andreichenko, Belarus values and respects the relations with Turkmenistan. “We are determined to further develop our cooperation… I believe that our relations have big future. We view Turkmenistan as an important partner of the Republic of Belarus in Central Asia,” the speaker said.

“Mutual trade has decreased in the recent years,” Vladimir Andreichenko said. In this respect he stressed that the bilateral relations needs momentum. In his words, it is a big field for action for MPs. “In our work we place an emphasis on trade, economic and investment cooperation,” Vladimir Andreichenko explained.

He also took note of such an important project as the construction of the Garlyk mining and processing factory. “It is an example of our cooperation in the industrial sector,” Vladimir Andreichenko noted. In turn, the Ambassador added that the factory is expected to launch its production on 1 September 2015. The parties also discussed other aspects of the trade, economic and humanitarian cooperation.

In 2014 the trade between the two countries totaled $194.9 million. As for the humanitarian sector, the two countries have been steadily developing cooperation in education. At present over 9,300 citizens of Turkmenistan receive education in Belarus.