Dear Forum members! Ladies and gentlemen!

I sincerely congratulate you on the start of the International Visiting Forum on Attracting Foreign Investment in the oil and Gas industry of Turkmenistan. This year, which is held under the motto "The Storehouse of the mind of Makhtumkuli Fraga" and is marked by thematic celebrations on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the outstanding poet and thinker of the East, this offsite event is being held in the capital of France – the city of Paris.

I would like to express my gratitude to the Government of the French Republic for providing optimal conditions for the organization of an International Forum at a high level.

I am convinced that the current event will become a kind of catalyst for successfully solving problems in the domestic oil and gas sector, attracting foreign capital to it and activating mutually beneficial partnership in the era of the Revival of a new era of a powerful state.

Independent Turkmenistan holds a leading position in the world ranking in terms of energy reserves and strives to use this enormous potential in the interests of not only its citizens, but also residents of other regions. In this regard, we are comprehensively taking targeted and constructive measures, which the International Forum in Paris is designed to give a broader scale.

Dear friends! Ladies and gentlemen!

We are consistently and systematically increasing the potential of the fuel and energy sector by investing significant funds in this area in accordance with the goals of the state's energy strategy, which allows us to significantly increase the return on exploration and increase the volume of oil and gas production and refining.

To achieve these goals, we intend to further increase the competitiveness of the products manufactured by the complex and achieve their compliance with international standards by improving quality, introducing the best scientific developments and advanced technologies into production, and following the requirements of environmental safety in the development of hydrocarbon resources.

The international visiting forum will allow to consider the problems of developing hydrocarbon deposits, the prospects for exporting "blue fuel" through gas pipelines and priorities for investments in the geochemical sphere. Its participants, in particular specialized specialists, will be able to discuss the creation of new production clusters in the oil and gas industry, electric power industry, construction and other industrial sectors, as well as propose relevant ideas.

Dear friends!

Today, together with foreign companies, we continue to develop oil and gas fields in the Turkmen section of the Caspian Sea and onshore in order to increase their production volumes. This partnership, which attracts foreign capital, is mutually beneficial, as it is carried out on the basis of production sharing agreements. In the future, we intend to scale up and intensify the dynamics of such cooperation, this is a key goal.

Among the priorities are the development of the Galkynyş gas storage and the laying of the Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India gas pipeline, the successful solution of which will significantly diversify the fuel and energy complex and support regional energy security.

In this context, we pay special attention to full-scale adherence to international standards of recent years in the field of digitalization of production, the introduction of technologies and technical developments of a new generation, the industrialization of the economy and environmental protection.

It is also worth noting the need to continue comprehensive measures taken in the country to extract, export and process hydrocarbon resources and reduce methane emissions by industrial enterprises.

Significant progress in this matter was the accession of independent neutral Turkmenistan to the Global Methane Commitment, which was officially announced at the 28th regular Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP-28), which took place in December 2023 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Dear Forum members!

Once again, I sincerely congratulate you on the start of the International Visiting Forum on Attracting Foreign Investment in the Oil and Gas industry of Turkmenistan, which, I am sure, will be held in a constructive manner.

I wish you great success and achievements in your work!

President of Turkmenistan Serdar BERDIMUHAMEDOV.