Trade Is Slowly Opening One of the World's Most Isolated Nations
Rosneft Proposes Oil Firms to Refine 30% of Crude in Russia to Ease Fuel Crunch Eurasianet is an independent news organization that covers news from and about the South Caucasus and Central Asia, providing on-the-ground reporting and critical perspectives on… Azerbaijan is working hard to coax Turkmenistan out of its shell and integrate Ashgabat into trans-Caspian trade routes.
Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev exchanged avariety of trade-related agreementswith Turkmenistan’s titular head of state, Serdar Berdymukhamedov, during a June 22 ceremony in Baku.
A joint statement issued after the ceremony highlighted an agreement to streamline “technical specifications” concerning the movement of goods and vehicles between the two countries, and another to harmonize “customs statistics of mutual trade.” Additional agreements covered cooperation in such spheres as energy, industry, agriculture, banking, and labor migration.
Aliyev told journalists that Baku’s engagement with Turkmenistan is aimed at expanding the emerging Middle Corridor trade network, which is designed to increase the flow of goods from Central Asia across the Caspian Sea bound for European markets.
“We agreed to carry out more in-depth coordination of our activities in the transport and logistics sector in order to increase cargo flows … [and] work on attracting goods from third countries,” Aliyev said.
“Therefore, this area will naturally be one of the priorities both in our bilateral and multilateral cooperation.” Turkmenistan has a reputation as a “hermit” kingdom, featuring one of the globe’smost repressive political systemsled by the paramount leader, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, Serdar’s father.
But over the past year, Ashgabat has voiced interest in cautiously opening to the outside world to diversify its economy andexpand tradebeyond natural gas exports to China.
The agreements signed in Baku are a tangible indicator of that desire.
“A solid package of bilateral documents was signed,” Serdar Berdymukhamedov said in Baku.
“This meets the long-term interests of the two countries and peoples.” The two leaders issued instructions to empower an intergovernmental commission, which is now scheduled to meet in July in Ashgabat, to implement the Baku agreements.
“I am sure that the instructions that we have given today will be worked out in detail by that time, and we will reach the solution of new joint tasks and the implementation of new projects,” Aliyev said, emphasizing that Azerbaijani-Turkmen relations were “built on a solid foundation - these are historical ties, cultural ties, spiritual ties.” During thejoint press conference, Aliyev dropped an intriguing hint that Azerbaijan would help develop Turkmenistan’s nascent mining sector.
The country’s most important reserves of minerals are presently iodine, sulfur, and potash,accordingto the US Geological Survey.
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