TURKMENISTAN - REPUBLIC OF KOREA: DEVELOPMENT OF INTER-PARLIAMENTARY RELATIONS

On July 20, 2023, the National Leader of the Turkmen people, Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov met with the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea Kim Jin-pyo, who is in Turkmenistan on an official visit at the head of a representative delegation.

At present, as a result of the successful implementation of the initiatives for the development of international cooperation put forward by Hero-Arkadag under the leadership of President Serdar Berdimuhamedov, Turkmenistan attaches great importance to strengthening bilateral partnership with the Republic of Korea, based on the principles of friendship, trust and mutual understanding.

During the bilateral meeting, expressing gratitude to the guest for accepting the invitation to pay an official visit to Turkmenistan, Hero-Arkadag said that he warmly recalls the official visit to the Republic of Korea in November last year.

Noting that the current meeting will be an important step towards the development of inter-parliamentary relations, Hero-Arkadag stressed that high-level negotiations are a positive opportunity for an interested exchange of views, which is especially important in the context of strengthening the legislative framework for interstate strategic cooperation.

Close attention is paid to the successful development of relations between the two countries on a multi-format basis, in particular, within the framework of the “Central Asia-Republic of Korea” forum. This is a clear demonstration of the strengthening of the positions of parliamentary diplomacy in cooperation in the political and diplomatic sphere, Hero-Arkadag continued.

They also noted the important role of the Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group, in whose work a special place is given to holding meetings and negotiations with leaders of leading Korean business circles.

During the bilateral meeting, the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea Kim Jin-pyo, first of all, expressed gratitude on behalf of the members of the delegation for the hospitality and provision of a high organizational level of bilateral negotiations.

Then the talks continued in an expanded format with the participation of delegations from the two countries.

The National Leader of the Turkmen people, Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov stressed that the agreements reached following the meetings with the President of the Republic of Korea Yoon Suk Yeol and the Speaker of the National Assembly during his visit to Korea in November last year gave impetus to the further development of bilateral relations.

Taking the opportunity, the National Leader of the Turkmen people addressed warm words of greeting and assurances of deep respect to the President of the Republic of Korea and said that the current meetings provide a good opportunity to discuss issues of cooperation between countries across its entire spectrum.

Noting that Turkmenistan is intensifying partnership with the Republic of Korea in the political, diplomatic, cultural and humanitarian spheres, Hero-Arkadag stressed that our states support each other's initiatives to ensure peace, stability and sustainable development on the planet within the framework of the United Nations.

Hero-Arkadag emphasized that an exchange of views took place in Seoul on strengthening the role of parliamentary diplomacy for the development of multilateral cooperation and the creation of the “Central Asia-Korea” Parliamentary Forum, and supported the idea of holding the first meeting of parliamentary leaders in a similar format in September this year in Korea.

Noting that a delegation headed by the Chairman of the Mejlis of Turkmenistan will take part in the work of this forum, the National Leader of the Turkmen people said that our country plans to propose holding the second meeting of the speakers of the “Central Asia-Korea” parliaments in Ashgabat in 2024, expressing confidence that the Korean side will support this proposal.

Secondly, emphasizing the need to expand the inter-parliamentary dialogue in order to further strengthen cooperation between our countries, Hero-Arkadag voiced a proposal to hold the First Turkmen-Korean inter-parliamentary consultative meeting within the framework of the above-mentioned Forum.

Thirdly, noting the existence of great opportunities for the development of cooperation in the trade and economic, energy, transport and logistics sectors, in the field of digitalization and high technologies, Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov noted with satisfaction the success of the work of Korean companies in Turkmenistan.

Hero-Arkadag emphasized the interest of Turkmenistan in building up multifaceted cooperation, in particular, in the gas and gas chemical industries, in the fields of transport and shipbuilding.

Fourth, a lot of work is being done in the cultural and humanitarian sphere. In this regard, it was noted that in September 2008, the department of the Korean language was opened at the Turkmen National Institute of World Languages named after Dovletmammet Azadi, and in September 2019, the Korean Educational Center named after King Sejong was opened on its basis.

As Hero-Arkadag emphasized, today a significant role is given to the realization of the intellectual, creative and spiritual potential of young people in the interests of society and the state, the development of youth public and parliamentary structures.

In continuation of the meeting, the National Leader of the Turkmen people emphasized that mutual visits, regularly organized at the highest and high levels, contribute to the consistent development of interstate relations, including through business communities, noting the active participation of Korean companies in the implementation of large-scale projects in Turkmenistan.

Then the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea Kim Jin-pyo thanked for the invitation to pay an official visit to Turkmenistan and the warm welcome, noting that the current meeting would give a new impetus to the further development of inter-parliamentary cooperation.

Emphasizing that the commonality of the spiritual and cultural heritage of our peoples is a reliable basis for strengthening bilateral dialogue, Kim Jin-pyo noted that the visit of the Hero-Arkadag to the Republic of Korea last year opened a new chapter in the development of cooperation between the two countries, expressing confidence that the current negotiations will serve to further build it up.

The Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea Kim Jin-pyo congratulated the Hero-Arkadag on his recognition as the National Leader of the Turkmen people and wished him great success.

Turkmenistan is steadily developing not only trade and economic, but also cultural and humanitarian ties with Korea, the guest continued, noting the great interest in the Turkmen culture and language, which contributes to the expansion of contacts in this direction.

As emphasized, Turkmenistan, which has huge reserves of natural gas, attaches great importance to the effective activities of foreign partners in this area. In this context, it was noted that large Korean companies are interested in joint implementation of projects in the gas and gas chemical industries, as well as in participating in the construction of industrial facilities within the second stage of the city of Arkadag, which embodied the Smart City Concept and was built on the initiative of the National Leader of the Turkmen people, Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov.

The Chairman of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea expressed confidence that the Turkmen-Korean cooperation, based on the spiritual and cultural commonality of the two peoples, would continue to expand.

Then the Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty announced that President Serdar Berdimuhamedov signed a Decree on awarding the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea Kim Jin-pyo with the Order of Turkmenistan "Bitaraplyk" and congratulated him on this high award.

Further, in a solemn atmosphere, the Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty of Turkmenistan presented the Order of "Bitaraplyk" to the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea.

The visit of the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea to Turkmenistan continues.