OREANDA-NEWS. On 19 June 2009 was announced, that three comfortable hotels - "Vatanchy" (Patriot), "Charlak" (Seagull) and "Hazyna" (Pearl) were inaugurated in Turkmenistan's national tourist zone "Avaza". They were built by Turkish companies.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by members of the Turkmen government, heads of diplomatic missions and international organizations accredited in Turkmenistan, governmental and parliamentary delegations of Russia, Turkey, Bahrain and representatives of major foreign companies, and leading world media.

Speaking at the ceremony, the President of Turkmenistan noted that "Avaza" was the first free economic zone in the country which is intended to help develop the tourism industry.

"The Avaza project holds a special place in the strategic plans of Turkmenistan for coming decades, and therefore it is designed to accumulate the most advanced achievements of world architecture and engineering thoughts, creative ideas, the head of state said. The total cost of facilities already built here exceeds half a billion USD  dollars. In the second stage of development of a tourist zone on the Caspian coast there will be built 10-15 sanatoria and world-class hotels."

"The boundaries of the tourist zone were expanded, and its area increased to five thousand hectares. The third phase of the project provides for the emergence of a peculiar Turkmen "Las Vegas" with numerous casinos and other entertainment centers," the president said.

In his words, "a new life will come to the city of Turkmenbashi, and the construction of a new city with high comfort modern apartment buildings and all necessary infrastructure will soon start in close vicinity of Turkmenbashi."

Emphasizing that there are many opportunities for the implementation of a variety of projects on the Turkmen coast of the Caspian Sea, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov invited foreign partners for broader cooperation.