Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba and Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov held a telephone conversation, during which they agreed to establish a Business Council uniting the businesses of the two countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine said.
“Today, it is the ministries of foreign affairs of the two countries that are the driving force of bilateral relations between Ukraine and Turkmenistan. Together we are reaching a qualitatively new level of interaction,” the Ukrainian MFA press service said, citing Kuleba on Friday.
Kuleba confirmed the interest of the Ukrainian side in the participation of leading Ukrainian companies in the implementation of major business projects in Turkmenistan. In turn, Meredov said the Turkmen side sees Ukrainian companies as reliable partners and is interested in expanding cooperation.
“The heads of Ukrainian and Turkmen diplomacy agreed to create a Business Council, which will unite Ukrainian and Turkmen businesses on a permanent basis,” the Foreign Ministry said.
The head of the Ukrainian MFA proposed expanding bilateral cooperation to new sectors, in particular, medical tourism and agriculture.
Kuleba also noted the importance of restoring direct flights between Ashgabat and Kyiv and Ashgabat and Lviv for the revitalization of interpersonal and business contacts.
“Inter-human ties best strengthen relations between our societies and states,” he said.
The ministers discussed preparations for the fifth meeting of the Joint Intergovernmental Ukrainian-Turkmen Commission on Economic, Cultural and Humanitarian Cooperation in Kyiv.
The sides paid special attention to the issues of mutual support of initiatives within international organizations, as well as interaction in the education and culture sectors.
Meredov highly appreciated the extremely friendly attitude of Ukraine towards Turkmen students studying in Ukraine. Kuleba said he would cordially welcome the increase in the number of students from Turkmenistan in Ukrainian educational institutions.
A separate subject of conversation was the prospects for the development of new logistics routes between Central Europe and Central Asia, in which Ukraine and Turkmenistan can play a key role.
