Turkmen businesses with their high quality and competitive products can fill some of the niches vacated by the withdrawal of a number of foreign corporations from the Russian market, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said in his speech at the Turkmen-Russian business forum held in Ashgabat on Thursday, the official Turkmen media reports.
Mikhail Mishustin stated that he is sincerely proud of the strategic partnership with Turkmenistan and gladly noted that the volume of bilateral trade has now reached $1 billion.
"Many companies of the Russian Federation are represented at the business forum, ready to discuss specific proposals for development of cooperation," Mikhail Mishustin continued, emphasizing that Russia and Turkmenistan have always been and will always be reliable partners for each other.
Calling construction of the highway along the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea one of the promising joint projects, the Russian Prime Minister stressed the need to increase the turnover of Russian and Turkmen ports through the Caspian Sea, expand the supply of railway locomotives, freight and passenger cars.
Expressing the desire of the Russian Federation to make an active effort to increase cooperation with Turkmenistan, the guest expressed readiness of the Russian Government and state institutions of credit and export support to provide entrepreneurs with necessary assistance and, together with the Turkmen colleagues to consider opportunities to simplify customs, veterinary and phytosanitary control procedures, easing visa regime for representatives of business circles.
Mikhail Mishustin invited representatives of Turkmenistan to participate in a number of major events planned in Russia in the first half of the year, in particular the International Economic Forum Russia-Islamic World, meetings of the CIS Council of Heads of Government, the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council, the international exhibition of cooperative projects Eurasia - Our Home, the Eurasian Congress, the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
At the end of his speech, the guest expressed his belief that the traditionally friendly interstate relations, strategic partnership based on trust, mutual respect and consideration of each other's interests, will serve as a guarantee of quality build-up of trade and economic relations for the prosperity of the two countries.
