The international conference was organized on July 18-19 in the capital of Turkmenistan under the auspices of the Agency for Transport and Communications under the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan and brought together a broad representation of international transport and logistics companies, logistics organizations, government agencies and private businesses, financial institutions and investors, as well as prominent international experts in the field of transport and logistics. The Turkmen Logistics Association was a co-organizer of the event. At the opening of the conference, the General Director of the Agency for Transport and Communications under the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan Mammetkhan Chakyev read out a welcome message of President of Turkmenistan to the conference participants.
The plenary session was attended by the Executive Secretary of the International Center for Transport Diplomacy (ICTD) I. Runov, Deputy Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) D. Mariyasin, Head of the Economic Department, Transport Communication and Logistics Department, ESCAP Transport Department F. Kormilitsyn and others. In separate sessions were moderated and consisted of speeches by Larisa Kislyakova, Chairman of the Partnership for Transport and Logistics in Central Asia, Yerbol Mukhaev, General Secretary of the Royal Institute of Logistics and Transport for Central Asia (CILT Central Asia), Zurab Shengelia, General Secretary of the Georgian Freight Forwarders Association and Aizhan Beiseeva, Transport and Logistics Coordinator in TCA USAID – foreign partners of Turkmen Logistics Association. Moreover, the member companies of Turkmen Logistics Association and their foreign partners also had the opportunity to participate in the Conference both in person and online.
On a business level, the conference participants discussed post-pandemic recovery of the transport and logistics sector, digitalization of the transport and communications complex, public-private partnerships in the development of green infrastructure, as well as ecological aspects of sustainable transport and the role of science and education in the development of transport and communications complex. As speakers emphasized, the state of the global market of transport services, geography and dynamics of freight traffic require diversifying the international traffic, controlling risks and the participation of all modes of transport, taking into account logistics costs. In this regard, there were specific proposals to diversify partnerships in Eurasian territory considering national and regional projects of Turkmenistan on the transport and communications sector, as well as long-term plans to create new transport corridors and increase the capabilities of existing ones.
Within the framework of the conference, the third meeting of the Working Committee of the Agreement between the Governments of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the State of Qatar, the Sultanate of Oman, Turkmenistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan (Ashgabat Agreement) and the first business meeting on the Economic Cooperation Organization Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan-Turkmenistan-Iran and Tajikistan- Uzbekistan-Turkmenistan-Iran-Turkey transport corridors was also held.
At the end of the working sessions of the conference, there was awarding ceremony of local and foreign companies’ representatives for their significant contribution to the development of the transport system.
In conclusion, the participants made a tour to the Ashgabat – Tejen section of the Ashgabat – Turkmenabat high-speed highway, to the Ashgabat International Airport, and to the International Seaport in Turkmenbashi.
