Digitalization Opens up Qualitatively New Development Stage for Turkmen Economy

The 2025 Digital Economy Development Strategy, which is well underway in Turkmenistan, is a roadmap launched to drive technological transformation in all sectors, provide state management, and build a knowledge-based economy, making full use of the country’s enormous resource and industrial potential. 

A transition to this qualitatively new stage for the Turkmen economy has become possible thanks to the effective policy of the head of state designed to boost the competitiveness of domestic industry, not only in traditional sectors (including fuel and energy and agribusiness) but also in brand new sectors. 

Building up Turkmenistan’s economic strength enables to implement wide-ranging reforms, aimed at improving the people’s well-being and living standards. An eloquent example is the National Rural Development Program initiated by the head of state. Drawing up of the Program was one of the first directives to the government from President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, following his election to office in 2007. 

It was the time when Turkmenistan had begun to implement the Sustainable Development Goals at the national level, long before they were adopted in 2015 by the global community. 

Unprecedented in its scale and importance, this purpose-oriented social program aims to provide quality-of-life-improvements to our compatriots. As part of it, over the last decade alone, dramatic changes have occurred in settlements in the country’s provinces that now boast modern industrial and social infrastructure. 

The National Rural Development Program is still in progress. Nevertheless, the quality of medical services and education has already improved significantly; living and social conditions in rural areas have been brought on a par with those in urban areas (in fact, they have come close to international standards), these are one of the Program’s key objectives, the head of state points out. 

In 2008-2018, some 870, 000 square meters of housing; 67 new hospitals (older ones renovated), 140 health houses, 258 kindergartens, 237 secondary schools, 75 culture centers, 115 sports schools, 73 new sports facilities (older ones refurbished) were built in the provinces. Over the decade, the regions saw the construction of 9,640 kilometers of water supply networks; 4,671 kilometers of roads; 13,520 kilometers of gas lines; 13,059 kilometers of power lines; 27,681-plus kilometers of communications lines; 18 water treatment facilities (of different capacity). 

Issues of the regions’ socio-economic development always receive close attention from the President, who discusses them on a regular basis with government members and heads of regional administrations. The latest video conferencing meeting (held on January 28) also focused on the issues in the context of ongoing farming operations, the country’s tree-planting and environmental policies, regional investment and construction activities. 

Under the National Rural Development Program, 73 social and cultural facilities; 32 water treatment plants; 2,600-plus kilometers of utilities; 208, 800 square meters of housing are currently under construction in Turkmenistan, not including the projects being implemented in the country’s major cities and Ashgabat, as well as in the Avaza National Tourist Zone with its impressive large-scale construction projects. 

Thus, the adoption of President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov’s clear, thought-out and science-based socio-economic development strategy not only has facilitated sustainable and positive growth dynamics, but has also helped to adapt to today’s changing economic environment as digitalization is becoming increasingly dominant. 

The financial sector has an important role to play in this context. Ensuring the flexible and effective distribution of money resources among the sectors, the financial system helped to tackle social issues, enhance the efficiency of investment processes, maintain steady economic progress, and ease the gradual transition to advanced technologies in all sectors. 

The Turkmen economy’s structure is now undergoing fundamental changes with a shift towards higher added-value production. Privatization is still an ongoing process. Over the period 2008-2018, hundreds of state-run facilities were privatized; successful efforts were made to lay the groundwork for high-tech, science- and innovation-based industries, as well as to achieve a budget surplus. 

Having initiated the Digitalization Program for the Economy and Public Sector, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov seeks to encourage the Government, senior officials of state-run agencies and ministries to keep up with the global trends and to promote international cooperation at all levels. 

Turkmenistan’s development prospects are directly affected by external factors: further integration into the world economic relations, expanded mutually advantageous trade-economic and investment partnerships, new and emerging forms of cooperation amidst advances in science and technology, concerted actions to address the shared challenges the world faces today. 

The 2030 Global Agenda and the national policy closely correlate with our country’s efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. In the context of the SDGs, Turkmenistan is making most of its economic potential to advocate the sustainable use of natural, energy, material and industrial resources. In parallel, the social and ecological vectors focus on the enhanced quality of life for the people and nature conservation. 

The implementation of the SDGs is seen in the context of creating favorable and stimulating social and production environments in the country’s provinces, both at the sectoral and regional levels. Authored by President of Turkmenistan, Academician of the Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Economics, Professor Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, the monograph, ‘Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in Turkmenistan’, looks at the goals and explores the ways to attain them. On the whole, Turkmenistan’s Economic Development Strategy, formulated and pursued by President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov aims at boosting industrial and innovation-driven economic growth, making the national economy highly competitive and improving the nation’s welfare. 

Digital technologies offer obvious advantages in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, incorporated in all state programs, large economic projects and social policy. This is why the President of Turkmenistan stimulates the expansion of technology-enabled health-care services, online and distance education, e-government solutions, etc. 

The digitization of economic, production and management processes will enable to create ‘smart cities’ and to respond more quickly and fully to people’s needs. Innovative technologies also directly contribute to job creation, for instance in the field of computing and information technologies. In this respect, the head of state Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov attaches special significance to training of highly-qualified specialists, in particular for digital economy. 

The head of state identifies the widespread availability of digital and mobile services as one of the key objectives. Therefore, the 2020 National Program of the President of Turkmenistan for improving social conditions of the population of villages, settlements, etrap towns and etrap centers will be updated and considered from a different angle – digital inclusion in the regions and remote areas, and is expected to become a powerful motor of economic growth. 

Undoubtedly, funding is highly instrumental in achieving the SDGs. Funds are allocated from the State Budget of Turkmenistan to implement state, sectoral and regional programs. In other words, the country’s economic power effectively guarantees the fulfillment of obligations imposed by the 2030 Global Agenda. Turkmenistan has already reached some of the SDGs, in particular, thanks to the National Rural Development Program. 

On the one hand, the implementation of the other SDGs in our socio-economic environment will promote the country’s prosperity and the people’s well-being, on the other hand, while tackling many global challenges of today, will facilitate progress across the world. 

The experience accumulated by our country in this field is of great value both nationally and globally. Many countries and international experts take a close interest in the country’s progress. Politicians, public figures, experts of reputable international organizations directly attribute Turkmenistan’s achievements to President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov’s science-based, coherent policy, which is in line with modern realities.