OREANDA-NEWS. January 17, 2011. Upon concluding the one-to-one talks between President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, who had arrived in the Turkmen capital on the first official visit, the bilateral meeting was continued with the participation of the high-level delegations of Turkmenistan and the European Union.

Greeting cordially and heartily the distinguished guest and the members of the EU’s delegation President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov thanked Jose Manuel Barroso for accepting the invitation to visit Turkmenistan and focused on particular significance of this visit that marked a new landmark in further enhancement of cooperation of Turkmenistan with one of its strategic partners – the European Union.

We view this meeting as a splendid opportunity to exchange views in topical issues of mutual interest and consider the effective forms of collaboration, said the Turkmen leader.

It was noted that since the early days of independence Turkmenistan had been developing mutually advantageous partnership with the European Union and EU member states; these relations had been tested by time and were brought today to a qualitatively new level due to the understanding of strategic tasks and prospects for fulfillment of them. The mutual interest and willingness to expand contacts covering the political, economic and humanitarian aspects of cooperation, ongoing large-scale changes and reforms in Turkmenistan as well as new approaches used by the European Union to partnership with our country laid the firm foundations for effective collaboration, said Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov. The opening of Europa House in Ashgabat and the accreditation of the Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Turkmenistan were mentioned as the critical factors for intensifying Turkmenistan-EU relations.

The Turkmen leader said that Turkmenistan welcomed the high dynamics of the political dialogue developed today on a systemic basis. This is made possible through using the existing mechanisms in the framework of bilateral relations with particular European countries as well as the European Union as a whole. They are aimed at searching for and implementing the effective approaches to cooperation in such critical areas as security, economy, energy, ecology, education and the humanitarian sphere. These areas are the important components for our cooperation at the bilateral level as well as in the regional dimension. Therefore, we give particular attention the activities set forth in the EU Central Asia Strategy.

Focusing on the fruitfulness of annual meetings of foreign ministers of the Central Asian states with the ministerial ‘troyka’ of EU member states that contributed to tackling topical regional and international issues, the Turkmen leader put emphasis on the effectiveness of an individual level of interaction that reflected the interests of the European Union towards each of Central Asian states. In this regard the President stated that it would be reasonable to intensify contacts between foreign ministries of Turkmenistan and the European Union, and that Turkmenistan stood ready to conduct political consultations at the ministerial level in the near future.

Focusing on significance of consistent efforts to intensify trade and economic cooperation, the Turkmen leader Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said that today Turkmenistan maintained foreign economic relations with all European countries, and Turkmen-European trade turnover had totalled USD  1.5 billion in 2010. The Turkmen leader said that these figures didn’t reflect the potential and possibilities of our countries. In this regard the President of Turkmenistan focused on the need to implement more fully the potential of the Turkmenistan-European Union Committee, which would conduct a regular meeting in Ashgabat in the current year.

The promising fields of cooperation included high tech industries, the transport, communications, banking and financial sectors. President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov stated that such an approach would enable to boost economic and investment activities aimed at implementing the projects of transcontinental trade and transport corridors. Noting that Turkmenistan stood ready to consider comprehensively the issues regarding enhancement of economic relations with the European Union, the Turkmen leader suggested exploring the possibility to develop the programme for Turkmenistan-European Union trade and economic cooperation for a medium or long term.

Touching upon the potential of partnership, the leader of the Turkmen state dwelt on the energy sector and expressed gratitude to EU member states for supporting Turkmenistan’s large-scale energy security initiatives. All EU member states co-sponsored the Resolutions of the UN General Assembly on the Reliable and Stable Transit of Energy and Its Role in Ensuring Sustainable Development and International Cooperation adopted on Turkmenistan’s initiative in December 2008. At the current stage the European Union provided Turkmenistan with utmost assistance in implementing this important document.

Confirming that Turkmenistan as a largest oil and gas producer sought to develop equal and mutually advantageous cooperation in the energy sector with different countries of the world, including EU member states, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov welcomed the partners’ understanding and recognition of urgency of energy security challenges in the modern world and the need to develop fundamentally new approaches to achieving it.

The President of Turkmenistan said that in this context Turkmenistan developed and consistently implemented the principle of diversification of energy transit to world markets. Also, Turkmenistan took the active measures to develop the domestic fuel and energy sector and increased the specific weight of finished products, in particular petroleum and petrochemical products. Our dependable partners in this field were a number of large companies from EU member states.

Focusing on the intense interest of European partners in Turkmenistan conditioned by dynamical, sustainable and predictable socio-economic development, the Turkmen leader provided the examples of European companies and enterprises operating in the energy sector, particularly under service contracts in the oil and gas industry and in the Turkmen offshore sector of the Caspian Sea.

The Turkmen leader underscored Turkmenistan’s interest in close cooperation with European partners in the power industry and in developing alternative energy sources, in particular solar and wind. Emphasis was put on broad prospects for cooperation in the gas sector. The Turkmen leader Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said that today Turkmenistan pursued in practice the strategy for developing multivariate pipeline infrastructure. As is known, the Turkmenistan-China gas pipeline and the Turkmenistan-Iran gas pipeline were put into operation in 2009 and 2010. The work to implement the project of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline is under way. In December 2010 Ashgabat hosted the Summit, and the important documents laying the legal foundations for the TAPI project were finalized.

Focusing on Turkmenistan’s readiness to develop the European vector of its energy policy, the Turkmen leader emphasized that there existed all necessary requisites. There are several variants of supply of Turkmen natural gas to European markets. The most effective one in commercial, financial and infrastructure terms is the construction of a pipeline along the seabed of the Caspian Sea. In this regard the President reminded that at the Summit of Caspian states on November 18, 2010 in Baku Turkmenistan had stated officially that a subsea pipeline in the Caspian Sea should be built by consent of only those states, the sections of which this pipeline would cross, in compliance with international environmental standards and requirements. Touching upon the variants of gas export, the Turkmen leader focused on the possibilities for transportation of pressure gas via the Caspian Sea along with pipelines. Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said that this would require development of relevant infrastructure and the tanker fleet. I think these and other variants of supply of Turkmen gas to Europe can be a topic for serious discussion between Turkmenistan and governments of European states and companies interested.

Focusing on the significance of cultural and humanitarian, scientific and educational contacts between Turkmenistan and the European Union, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said that a number of programmes aimed at further democratization of the political and social life were being implemented in collaboration with international organisations. The examples included the positive outcomes of Turkmenistan-European Union collaboration within the programme “Strengthening of Legal Capacity of Turkmenistan”.

A key vector of Turkmenistan-EU cooperation was the sphere of science and education. The Turkmen leader emphasized that within the EU-funded educational programmes such as TACIS-TEMPUS, Erasmus Mundus a number of projects aimed at training and advanced training specialists for various sectors of the national economy and the social sector of Turkmenistan had been implemented during the years of cooperation. Emphasis was put on the efficiency of collaboration in environmental protection, in particular conservation and efficient management of water and biological resources. We attach considerable importance to cooperation to mitigate effects of global climate changes, reduce harmful atmospheric emissions, to combat desertification, said the President.

In conclusion President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov once again focused on Turkmenistan’s interest in enhancing further mutually advantageous contacts with the European Union and maintaining regular contacts in order to build an effective model for cooperation meeting modern realities and the spirit of equitable partnership.

Then the floor was given to Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission.

Thanking President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and the Turkmen people for the hospitality and warm welcome, the head of the European Commission focused on the importance of his visit to Turkmenistan.

Touching upon the significance of the policy promoted by the Turkmen state to ensure peace and stability in the region, Jose Manuel Barroso expressed support on behalf of the European Union for the foreign policy strategy pursued by President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and the Turkmen leader’s progressive initiatives aimed at facilitating constructive international cooperation for the benefit of all peoples on the planet.

Focusing on energy security issues, the distinguished guest noted that today Turkmenistan was a dependable gas exporter on the world market emphasizing that in this field vast opportunities were opened up for bilateral and multilateral partnership with the EU, which sought to develop multivariate and safe pipeline infrastructure ensuring reliable and stable energy transit to world markets. In this regard the EU viewed Turkmenistan as a key vector for cooperation.

Turkmenistan’s activity on world energy market was stipulated by a significant economic growth and the pace of socio-economy development of the country, emphasized the head of the European Commission. Speaking about the significance of ongoing progressive reforms and changes in Turkmenistan, the distinguished guest evaluated highly the country’s impressive achievements in education, science and other spheres.

Specifying collaboration in implementing joint humanitarian projects as a critical aspect of Turkmenistan-EU cooperation, the distinguished guest focused on the intention to give further priority to this sphere.

In conclusion Mr. Jose Manuel Barroso expressed sincere gratitude to President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov for providing support for the activities of the Europa House in Ashgabat.

Upon concluding the enlarged talks President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and Jose manuel Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission had a brief conversation over a cup of tea.

Then the President of Turkmenistan and the President of the European Commission gave a press conference.