Dear participants of the international conference!

Dear guests!

I sincerely congratulate you on holding the XXXVIII meeting of the Conference of Heads and Responsible Representatives of Railway Transport Enterprises of the member Countries of the Organization for Cooperation of Railways in independent neutral Turkmenistan.

Turkmenistan takes an active position in the development of transport and transit corridors, including in matters of cooperation at the UN and other major international organizations. Our independent country has put forward a number of constructive initiatives and numerous relevant resolutions in this direction.

Over the years, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolutions submitted by Turkmenistan on "The role of transport and transit corridors in ensuring international cooperation for sustainable development", "Towards ensuring comprehensive interaction between all modes of transport in order to promote the creation of sustainable multimodal transit corridors", "Strengthening links between all modes of transport to achieve the goals in the field of sustainable development", "Strengthening links between all modes of transport to ensure stable and reliable international transport for sustainable development during and after the coronavirus disease pandemic (COVID-19)."

Resolutions such as "World Sustainable Transport Day" and "Strengthening links between all modes of transport to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals" were also adopted, and November 26 of each year was declared "World Sustainable Transport Day".

It should be particularly noted that during the work of this important meeting, from April 16 this year, the United Nations General Assembly Sustainable Development Week will be held in New York City of the United States of America and within its framework a ministerial meeting of the Friends of Sustainable Transport Group, established on the initiative of Turkmenistan, as well as a high-level meeting on sustainable transport.

Dear participants of the conference!

Turkmenistan, located at the crossroads of Central Asia and Europe, is consistently expanding its international transit capabilities through the modernization of the material and technical base of the national transport infrastructure.

During the years of independence, the international railways Tejen–Serakhs–Mashhad, Kazakhstan–Turkmenistan–Iran, Kerki–Ymamnazar–Akina and Serkhetabat–Turgundi, the steel highways Zerger–Kerki–Kerkichi and Ashgabat–Garagum–Dashoguz, as well as the Kerki–Kerkichi and Turkmenabat–Farab railway bridges were built.

Consistently integrating into the transport system, Turkmenistan prioritizes the further expansion of the infrastructure of the main transport and transit corridors connecting important roads and modal centers along the North–South and East–West routes.

In confirmation of the above, the Ashgabat Declaration "Agreement on Transit and Transport Cooperation" (Agreement on the direction of Lapis Lazuli), adopted following the results of the High–level International Conference held in the Turkmen capital under the auspices of the United Nations in 2016, as well as the TRACECA transport corridor.

At the same time, necessary measures are being taken to develop the China-Kazakhstan–Turkmenistan–Iran transport and transit corridor and expand cargo transportation.

In addition, systematic work is underway between the railway departments of the Organization's member states to activate the international multimodal transport and transit route of the Countries of the Asia-Pacific region-China–Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan–Turkmenistan–Azerbaijan–Georgia–Turkey–Europe.

Dear participants of the international conference!

Today, Turkmenistan, guided by the importance of establishing cooperation between the state and the private sector for the development and promotion of a multimodal transport and communication system, including railways, motor transport, waterways, ports, as well as attracting investments in this area, pays special attention to the creation of competitive national logistics companies.

Being a member of the Organization for Railway Cooperation since 1994, Turkmenistan has been pursuing a coordinated transport policy aimed at the harmonious development of railway infrastructure at the national level, as well as transit international cargo transportation on a regional scale.

Dear participants of the international conference!

Dear guests!

Once again, I sincerely congratulate you on holding the XXXVIII meeting of the Conference of Heads and Responsible Representatives of Railway Transport Enterprises of the member Countries of the Organization for Railway Cooperation.

I wish you good health, long life, family well-being and great success in your work!

President of Turkmenistan

Serdar Berdimuhamedov