Deputy Foreign Minister of Turkmenistan Vepa Hajiyev and Matthew Baldwin, Deputy Director-General in the Directorate-General for Energy at the European Commission, in a meeting in Brussels exchanged views on energy cooperation between the European Union (EU) and Turkmenistan, the Embassy of Turkmenistan in Belgium told Business Turkmenistan on Wednesday.
The meeting was held within the framework of Vepa Hajiyev’s visit to Brussels on January 19-21.
Matthew Baldwin noted that cooperation in the field of energy is of particular importance for the EU, and confirmed the bloc’s readiness to establish new partnerships in this area.
Baldwin underlined that the EU sees an energy partner country in Turkmenistan and is ready to hold talks on further cooperation. Moreover, Matthew Baldwin expressed confidence that Turkmenistan will be the EU’s reliable partner in energy sector.
In turn, Vepa Hajiyev said that before the pandemic there was active cooperation and consultation between Turkmenistan and the EU in the sphere of energy, and confirmed that the Turkmen side is ready to resume these cooperation, that is, to conduct negotiations with the participation of experts from both sides. The sides agreed to hold such expert consultations in the first quarter of 2023 in Brussels or Ashgabat.
The Turkmen Deputy Foreign Minister also informed of the measures taken to diversify the country's energy policy and development of the green energy, emphasizing that Turkmenistan pays special attention to hydrogen energy.
As part of his visit to Brussels, Deputy Foreign Minister Vepa Hajiyev met with Ghislain D'Hoop, the Head of the Directorate-General for Multilateral Affairs and Globalization at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belgium.
