OREANDA-NEWS. November 28, 2011. President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov visited the social administrative region Hong Kong (Xianggang) of the People’s Republic of China during the state visit to this country.

In the morning of the last of the visit the President’s cortège headed from the residence in Shenzhen city to the special administrative region Hong Kong. There Chief Executive and President of the Executive Council of the Government of Hong Kong Donald Tsang heartily greeted the President of Turkmenistan at the entrance to the Government House located in the historic city centre.

At the beginning of the official reception President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov introduced the members of the Turkmen government delegation to Donald Tsang.

Opening the meeting, Donald Tsang emphasized that the visit of President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov to the People’s Republic of China aroused keen interest and attention among the business community in the country, including Hong Kong. The Chief Executive said the Turkmen leader’s visit to the special administrative region would initiate new bilateral contacts and relations that would foster cooperation between Turkmenistan and China.

During the meeting Donald Tsang briefed the Turkmen leader and the members of the Turkmen government delegation on the structure and economic development of the special administrative region.

Donald Tsang said the strengths of Hong Kong as a dependable partner were stability, flexibility and predictability of its financial market and banking systems and the mechanism for regulating them in conditions of the global financial crisis. In this regard, the Chief Executive focused on the keen interest in cooperation with Turkmenistan and expressed sincere gratitude to the Turkmen leader for visiting Hong Kong which would certainly facilitate identifying common economic interests and establishing fruitful business contacts.

Noting that a number of basic points of contact such as rapid industrial growth and the investment potential of Turkmenistan and China and the orientation of the national economies towards export and adoption of advanced technologies existed, Donald Tsang reaffirmed that Hong Kong stood ready to exchange experiences and innovative developments.

During the meeting the Turkmen leader emphasized that Turkmenistan viewed the visit to Hong Kong as a first step to establish direct business contacts. Noting that Hong Kong is an important business and financial centre of the world which houses the headquarters of multinational corporations, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov suggested establish close business contacts with these companies and exploring the possibilities to attract investment from Hong Kong to the Turkmen economy.

The Turkmen leader informed the meeting participants of the steps and organizational measures taken in Turkmenistan to improve the investment climate, create the favourable conditions for the activities of foreign businessmen, particularly at the legislative level, and attract and protect foreign investment. All this lays a reliable foundation for long-term cooperation in the investment sector and facilitates enhancing partnerships and implementing major joint projects.

We are interested in investment to implement projects in the basic sectors of the national economy, including particularly the fuel and energy sector and processing industries within it, said the Turkmen leader. Also the Turkmen leader Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov emphasized that Turkmenistan saw the future of cooperation with businessmen at the international level working in Hong Kong in such fields as chemical, textile industry, communication, telecommunications and high tech sectors.

Today, Turkmenistan is building modern multivector transport infrastructure. The north-south and west-east routes under construction will be an important part of the transport system crossing regions and continents. Our country also develops maritime transport and modernizes seaport infrastructure. In this context Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov suggested exploring the possibilities for partnership given the positive developments of Hong Kong in the field of logistics, port management, etc.

The Turkmen leader also said Turkmenistan was interested in Hong Kong’s experience in establishing and managing financial and banking systems and developing tourism business. The latest methods of tourism industry management which have proven to be effective in the special administrative region could be applied in the Avaza national tourism zone being on the Caspian seashore.

In general, the Turkmen leader described the prospects for cooperation between Hong Kong businessmen with Turkmen partners as promising for the two sides and suggested establishing direct contacts between the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Turkmenistan and relevant business associations in Hong Kong.

Dwelling upon the potential of a bilateral exchange of business delegations, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov put forward the initiative to hold a business forum in Ashgabat or Hong Kong, which would provide a platform for conducting in-depth analysis of options and approaches to establishing long-term consistent cooperation.

Expressing sincere gratitude to the Chief Executive for the high level of organisation of the visit of the Turkmen delegation and the favourable conditions created for useful and productive talks, the President reaffirmed that Turkmenistan stood ready to actively cooperate with Chinese companies interested.

Then Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov took part in a meeting with the business community of Hong Kong. The meeting was held in the format of a business lunch at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, the heist building in Hong Kong, in the Diamond Hall.

An exposition of colourfully illustrated books, albums and other printed products about present-day Turkmenistan and its achievements, the rich history and traditions of the Turkmen people was arranged before a business lunch. The books by President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov about strategic issues of social and economic development of Turkmenistan, and the national heritage, including legendary Ahalteke horses were of particular interest. The exposition also included the works by Turkmen classic poets and contemporary authors, photo albums on the national arts, architecture and culture, publications on the aspects of domestic and foreign policy of Turkmenistan and its economic, social and political achievements. The book exposition gave a view of the dynamics of the fundamental reforms which had completely changed the country and opened new horizons for international cooperation.

The top managers and specialists of international corporations, financial and commercial institutions, major companies specializing in such fields as the petrochemical, chemical, glass and electronic industries, energy (including alternative energy), telecommunications, trade, transport, construction, banking and communal sectors, port infrastructure and logistics, real estate and hotel business and other sectors gathered together in the Diamond Hall. Such a reputable and versatile representation at the meeting was another evidence for the multidimensional interest of the Chinese business community in establishing partnership with Turkmenistan.

The representatives of the business community of Hong Kong greeted President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, who is inextricably associated with the steadily growing prestige of Turkmenistan in the world arena, with applause. Secretary of the Guangdong Committee of the Communist Party of China Wang Yang, who characterised President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov as the greatest statesman in the history of Turkmenistan during the ceremony to mark the start of Turkmen gas supply to Guangdong province, should be quoted in this regard. In his opening remarks a member of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council Tom Tang shared this opinion.

Expressing deep gratitude to the Turkmen leader for participating in the meeting with the representatives of the business community in Hong Kong, Tom Tang noted that all those preset considered it great honour to receive such a distinguished guest. That meeting was a historic event for both Turkmenistan and Hong Kong and testified to considerable significance attached by the two sides to promoting business contacts.

The congratulations on the 20th anniversary of independence of Turkmenistan and conferring the title of Hero of Turkmenistan and the Altyn Ay Medal and the title of Honorary Professor of the Peking University to President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov were expressed on behalf of those present

It was noted that through the prudent far-sighted policy of President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov Turkmenistan had made significant progress in recent years and become a strong, economically developed country. The economic indicators growing from year to year made the world community talk about the ‘Turkmen phenomenon’, the ‘Turkmen economic miracle’. In this context, it was noted that the fact that Turkmenistan like Hong Kong were ranked among few world’s subjects that had managed to avoid the negative effects of the global economic crisis testified to its strong economy and well thought-out state policy.

Also Tom Tang said the business community of Hong Kong was keenly interested in establishing mutually advantageous cooperation and joint ventures in various sectors of the economy of Turkmenistan that ranked among the world’s energy powers with abundant hydrocarbon reserves and the state with extended electricity supply system, diversified transport and communications network, modernized textile industry, rapidly developing construction industry and entrepreneurship.

The willingness of Hong Kong businessmen to collaborate in such ongoing ambitious investment projects in Turkmenistan as the Avaza national tourism zone, the North-South transport corridor, the development of the oil refining and chemical industries, was expressed.

Tom Tang also briefed the members of the Turkmen delegation on the activities of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. Touching upon the prospects of bilateral cooperation, Tom Tang said the visit of President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov to the People’s Republic of China and the meeting with Hong Kong businessmen would give a necessary impetus to significantly increase trade between Turkmenistan and Hong Kong.

Then the floor was given to the Turkmen leader. Expressing the best wishes to those present, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said he considered the participation of big businessmen in this meeting to be bright evidence for the keen interest of the business community of Hong Kong in Turkmenistan and their willingness to establish mutually advantageous relations. The Turkmen leader told about the aims and objectives of the ongoing reforms and changes in the country emphasizing that the essential factors for promoting them included wide cooperation on an equal basis with all countries and large financial and industrial centres of the world.

The results of market research conducted by the authoritative international organisations showed that the ongoing reforms in Turkmenistan had created the conditions conducive to the social and economic progress of the country and constructive international cooperation. The Turkmen leader mentioned the fuel and energy, agricultural, private, science, education and textile sectors as its priority areas.

As a result, the volume of investment, a number of investment projects and the share of foreign trade increase in the GDP in the country.

To illustrate his words the President provided the following figures: in the first nine months of 2011 the GDP growth rate made up 114.6 percent and the industrial growth rate made up 124.1 percent. Currently, our country has trade relations with 103 countries worldwide. For the nine months the volume of foreign trade totalled USD 19 billion. The exports to foreign countries increased by USD 4 billion as compared to the imports.

The national legislation of Turkmenistan brought in line with international legal standards plays a critical role in attracting foreign investors, said President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov. New laws on taxation, investment, entrepreneurship which provide various benefits to economic entities working with foreign partners have been adopted in recent years. Effective measures to ensue stability of the financial system of the country have been taken.

The Turkmen leader noted that the attractiveness of the Turkmen market depended to a larger extent on abundant resources and modern regulatory framework which guaranteed social and political stability in the country, sustainable economic development and reliability of investment. This is confirmed by the expert reports of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which confidently state that the Turkmen economy will continue to consistently develop and the investment grade of our country will rise.

Diversification and expansion of production have become an essential prerequisite for sustained growth of the Turkmen economy, emphasized President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov. In this regard our pride is a steady increase in foreign investment which constitutes one-third of the total volume of investment in our country. In this context the Turkmen leader emphasized that a major part of investment in Turkmenistan was used in the production sector.

The Turkmen leader briefed the meeting participants on the measures taken to develop processing industries in Turkmenistan and build up the chemical and textile industries, the transport, communications and telecommunications sectors, including to modernize the Turkmenbashi seaport. Turkmenistan promotes the high tech, information and space sectors where Turkmen-Chinese innovative cooperation has vast opportunities to develop.

President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov expressed belief that Hong Kong businessmen would be interested in partnership in the tourism sector, particularly in the ambitious project of Avaza, and in the financial and banking sectors. In this regard the Turkmen leader invited Hong Kong businessmen to make business trips to Turkmenistan to get acquainted with the potential of our country.

In our turn we are ready to send a delegation representing the state and private sector of Turkmenistan to Hong Kong to conduct consultations and talks, said the President of Turkmenistan characterising this meeting as a good beginning for close long-term cooperation in the economic, trade and investment sectors with Hong Kong businessmen.

Those in the audience rose to their feet to greet the Turkmen leader’s speech.

Expressing gratitude to the President of Turkmenistan for the deeply substantive speech, the moderator said this meeting had provided Hong Kong businessmen with an opportunity to see a new side of Turkmenistan and discover the promising areas for investment, the options for partnerships. The presentation of the country made by its leader had certainly enhanced the already intense interest of the business community of Hong Kong to establish mutually advantageous cooperation with dynamically developing Turkmenistan.

Then the floor was given to Vice-President of Huawei Technologies Fu Shiguang. We appreciate credit being given by the Government of Turkmenistan to us to implement communications projects, said Fu Shiguang. The company has implemented a number of important projects to expand and modernize this sector in Turkmenistan over the years of fruitful cooperation.

Taking consistent efforts to be a dependable partner who effectively assists in developing telecommunications infrastructure in Turkmenistan, Huawei is optimistic about the future of close collaboration which as well as Turkmen-Chinese partnership have been given a new impetus to develop during the state visit of President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov to the People’s Republic of China, said Fu Shiguang.

Talking about the pace of development of Turkmenistan and modernisation of the national legislation in order to attract foreign investors, the favourable conditions for cooperation created in the country, the Vice-President expressed belief that Turkmenistan had a great future. Fu Shiguan congratulated the Turkmen leader on the 20th anniversary of independence of Turkmenistan and conferring the title of Hero of Turkmenistan and the rank of Hero of Turkmenistan and wished every success to his important activity. Turkmenistan’s outstanding achievements cannot but be admired by business partners seeking to foster long-term and mutually advantageous cooperation and willing to contribute to the constructive processes taking place in the country and building confidence among nations and peoples, concluded the Vice-President of Huawei.

Then the partners exchanged views on the prospects for cooperation and discussed the proposals to establish contacts in various fields in an informal, warm and friendly atmosphere. During the meeting the heads of Turkmen ministries and departments held the talks with businessmen of Hong Kong and identified the promising fields for combining efforts and potential. A film about new buildings and projects which had transformed the Turkmen land, the rhythm of life of the country open to good friends and dependable partners and building its bright future became an illustrative background for consultations and talks.

Upon concluding the meeting, the President of Turkmenistan warmly bade farewell to those present and left the Ritz Carlton Hotel.

Then the President’s cortege headed to the airport in Shenzhen city from where the Turkmen leader left for Ashgabat.

In the evening the President’s plane landed at the international airport in Ashgabat where the officials cordially greeted and congratulated the Turkmen leader on the great success of the state visit to the People’s Republic of China.