President Serdar Berdimuhamedov received on Tuesday the executive director of the Turkmenistan-US Business Council, Eric Stewart, who arrived in Ashgabat to participate in the 10th anniversary joint business forum, TDH reports.

 The businessman confirmed the desire of the American business community to build ties with Turkmenistan, which has solid economic potential and is implementing large projects in various industries.

 Noting the importance of Serdar Berdimuhamedov’s working visit to New York in September, Eric Stewart emphasized the importance of the constructive initiatives voiced in the speech of the head of state at the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, as well as the participation of the President of Turkmenistan in the first meeting of multilateral cooperation in the Central Asia–Central Asia format  United States of America (“C5+1”).

 Serdar Berdimuhamedov noted that Turkmenistan attaches great importance to the development of friendly relations with the United States.  Taking this opportunity, the head of state wished a successful joint business forum in Ashgabat, expressing confidence that it would serve to strengthen the Turkmen-American investment partnership.

 During the meeting, the dynamic nature of bilateral cooperation was stated, which is consistently developing on the principles of equality, mutual respect and mutual benefit.  At the same time, the readiness of Turkmenistan and the United States to expand a diverse partnership on a long-term basis was confirmed.

In this context, the important contribution of the joint Business Council to the development of interstate trade and economic relations was noted.  It was emphasized that over the past 15 years since its founding, the Business Council has become an effective instrument of Turkmen-American cooperation, an effective platform for establishing, strengthening and intensifying contacts between economic entities of the two countries. The large US companies that are part of it successfully operate in the Turkmen market in strategically important sectors. More and more representatives of American business circles are showing interest in interaction with Turkmenistan.

 As noted, the large-scale reforms and diversification of the national economy being carried out in Turkmenistan, as well as the presence of rich natural resources, favorable geographical location and the implemented foreign policy based on the “open door” principle, provide new opportunities for intensifying cooperation.  Among its promising areas are the oil and gas sector, electric power, renewable energy, transport and communications, agriculture, and high technology.

 Thanking Eric Stewart for his active work promoting the development of Turkmen-American business contacts, Serdar Berdimuhamedov noted that Turkmenistan welcomes the expansion of effective interaction with US companies and is ready to consider specific proposals from the Business Council.

 Expressing deep gratitude to the head of state for the substantive conversation and the attention shown to issues of bilateral cooperation, the businessman confirmed the interest of US business circles in strengthening their position in the promising Turkmen market, where a favorable investment climate has been created.