Opportunities for expanding economic cooperation were discussed Wednesday at a meeting between President Serdar Berdimuhamedov and a US business delegation headed by Executive Director of the Turkmen-American Business Council Eric Stewart.

 From the American side, the meeting was also attended by Vice President of General Electric Gas Power Brice Razan, President of Strategic Partnership Development in Central Asia of John Deere Chub Leiko, Vice President of Nicklaus Companies John Reese, Founder and CEO  Antonio Mugic, Executive Director of Smartmatic, Nikolay Yurchenko, Chairman of the Board of Westport Trading Europe Limited, and Duke Gim, Vice President of UGT Renewables.

 Serdar Berdimuhamedov noted that Turkmenistan considers this visit as a desire of the US business community to expand mutually beneficial cooperation.  The head of Turkmenistan expressed confidence that during his stay in Ashgabat, the American partners would have a good opportunity to meet with their Turkmen colleagues and exchange views on promising areas of cooperation.

 During the meeting, the friendly nature of the Turkmen-American relations, which are developing on the principles of equality, mutual respect and mutual benefit, was emphasized.  At the same time, the sides confirmed their readiness to further increase cooperation, including in the areas of trade, investment activities, and intensification of dialogue between business circles.

 The significant role of the Turkmen-American Business Council, which, under the leadership of Eric Stewart, has been doing a lot of purposeful work for many years, was especially noted.  Over the past 15 years since its foundation, the Business Council has become an effective platform for establishing, developing and strengthening contacts between the economic entities of both countries.

 Large American companies that are part of it successfully operate in the Turkmen market in strategically important sectors.  From year to year, the number of members of the Business Council is growing, showing interest in the implementation of new investment projects in Turkmenistan.

As noted, attractive conditions have been created in Turkmenistan for expanding international economic cooperation in various fields, including the oil and gas sector, electricity, renewable energy, transport and communications, the agro-industrial complex, the textile industry, and high technology.

 Good opportunities also exist for cooperation in the sports sector and the creation of specialized infrastructure, in particular, for such a popular sport in the world as golf.

 Noting that the United States is one of the important trade and economic partners of Turkmenistan, Serdar Berdimuhamedov stated that positive results have been achieved in this direction over the past years, however, it is obvious that the mutual potential can be used much more widely.  Turkmenistan welcomes the expansion of mutually beneficial partnership with American companies, which it intends to encourage and support.

 Expressing gratitude to the head of Turkmenistan for the trust, meaningful, substantive conversation, the businessmen confirmed the desire of US business circles to strengthen their positions in the promising Turkmen market and to participate in the implementation of new joint projects.