President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov, President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon and President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev at their first trilateral summit in Ashgabat on Friday agreed to organize talks between heads of energy departments in the second half of 2023 to consider opportunities for joint activities in the oil-gas and electricity sectors.
This agreement of the Presidents of Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan was stipulated in the Joint Statement adopted at the end of the summit, according to the official Turkmen media.
The parties expressed the particular importance of developing cooperation in the energy sector, especially in the field of supplies of natural gas, oil and oil products, as well as electricity.
In his speech at the summit, Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedov emphasized that energy is one of the most important areas of mutual cooperation and stated the expediency of creating an effective model of cooperation in this area.
“Achieving these strategic goals requires a systematic, substantive approach. In this area, there are already certain developments and good examples of cooperation, in particular, in the electric power industry. In general, Turkmenistan is ready to continue such cooperation, making it sustainable,” Serdar Berdimuhamdov said and voiced a proposal to establish long-term trilateral cooperation in the gas industry.
The Joint Statement additionally addressed issues of strengthening cooperation within the framework of international organizations, cooperation in the field of energy, logistics and transit, further optimization of tariffs, increase in trade turnover and rational use of water resources of the Amudarya River.