President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov at a meeting on April 16 with the acting executive director of the United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN-Habitat) Michal Mlynar discussed the prospects for cooperation in the field of urban planning, TDH reports.

 As the head of state noted, the constructive nature is inherent in the traditional dialogue between Turkmenistan and the UN within the framework of the implementation of the Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework for 2021–2025, which is the basic document for joint work.

 It was also noted that an important step in promoting effective bilateral partnership was the appointment in 2020 of the Permanent Representative of Turkmenistan to the UN Office in Geneva at the same time as the Permanent Representative of the UN Human Settlements Program.

 In 2023, our country joined the UN-Habitat Group of Friends for Sustainable Urbanization and the new Urban Development Programme.  In this context, Serdar Berdimuhamedov noted that the issue related to the opening of the UN-Habitat Representative Office in Turkmenistan is one of the priorities for our country at the current 78th session of the UN General Assembly.

 The head of state proposed, as a first step, to organize a visit to Turkmenistan by a group of experts from the UN Human Settlements Program to identify specific vectors of cooperation and develop an appropriate project document that will serve as the legal basis for interaction.

 As noted, construction of industrial and social facilities is regularly carried out in all regions of the country.  New villages, towns, cities, modern residential buildings, cultural, entertainment and medical centers, schools and kindergartens are being built and put into operation.  The “smart” city of Arkadag was built, awarded a UN-Habitat certificate for its efforts in implementing the principles of inclusive, safe, sustainable and smart regions and communities.

 In continuation of cooperation with the UN Human Settlements Program, Serdar Berdimuhamedov put forward a number of proposals, including consultations in the field of legislative support for urban planning, implementation of global programs and strategies for the development of high-tech, environmentally friendly, sustainable cities, public-private partnerships in the creation and management  urban infrastructure.

 Turkmenistan is also ready to consider counter-proposals from UN-Habitat in these areas.