On October 1 , Chairman of the Halk Maslakhaty Milli Gengesh Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov returned to Ashgabat from Japan . On the trip, he was accompanied by his wife Ogulgerek Berdimuhamedova .
Berdymukhammedov Sr. spent six days in Japan, from September 25 to October 1. On October 2, the state information agency TDH told how the trip went.
On September 26, the ex-president met with the chairman of the House of Representatives of the Japanese Parliament, Hosoda Hiroyuki , and put forward a number of proposals:
- Strengthen the work of the Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group;
- to create mechanisms of youth inter-parliamentary interaction;
- increase the role of women in inter-parliamentary relations;
- intensify the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.
In turn, Hosoda Hiroyuki proposed to increase partnership with the Turkmen side in the energy sector.
Then, at the Chinzanso Tokyo hotel, where he stayed, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov met with the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Çalik Holding group of companies, Ahmet Chalyk , and discussed cooperation in the field of energy and construction.
On the 27th, the business breakfast of the ex-president was held with the heads of the companies: Kawasaki Heavy Industries, SANKO SELKO CO. LTD, Komatsu Ltd, Itochu Corp., Mitsubishi Corp., Sumitomo Corp., Marubeni, Sojits Corp., JGC, as well as with the head of the Japanese sector of the Turkmen-Japanese Committee for Economic Cooperation and the chairman of the board of the Turkish company Rönesans Holding.
Berdimuhamedov Sr. said that the General Agreement on the supply of Komatsu earth-moving equipment worth more than $470 million and Toyota vehicles with a preliminary cost of $90 million is currently being implemented.
On September 23, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov signed a Decree on the purchase of 1,000 Toyota Coaster middle-class buses and 250 Toyota Hiace minibuses. On September 21, TDH reported that on the eve of the celebration of Independence Day, the taxi fleet of Ashgabat was replenished with 150 Toyota Corolla cars.
TDH reports that 38 investment projects with the participation of Japanese companies have been registered in Turkmenistan for a total amount exceeding $11 billion, about 230 million euros and almost 17 billion yen.
The Chairman of the Halk Maslakhaty said that Turkmenistan is studying Japan’s experience in reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 through the use of renewable energy and carbon dioxide through the use of advanced technologies for the production of hydrogen by 2050.
According to him, this year, with the participation of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan (METI) and companies, the Japanese side shared its experience in developing the hydrogen energy industry and discussed the possibilities of cooperation with Turkmenistan.
“We expect that with the financing of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), the GTG2 project will be implemented – the production of gasoline from natural gas using Kawasaki’s advanced technologies in the field of clean energy,” the ex-president said.
He also made a number of other suggestions:
- update the Roadmap for infrastructure cooperation in Turkmenistan, supplement it with new projects and sign it at the 14th meeting of the Turkmen-Japanese Committee for Economic Cooperation;
- attract Japanese companies to the export of high value-added products from Turkmenistan;
- diversify funding – work together to improve the joint funding mechanism. We are talking about creating a special account for secure settlements between the buyer and the seller – “Escrow accounts” (Escrow account is a special account for secure settlements between the buyer and the seller. It is also called a conditional account, because it automatically passes from one owner to another under certain conditions ). Use various forms of project financing, including such as project financing with payment for manufactured products, direct investment, and others;
- study Japanese experience in “green” and hydrogen energy and in the creation of modern industries focused on the production of competitive products;
- to attract small and medium Japanese enterprises to do business in Turkmenistan and, accordingly, Turkmen – in Japan.
Then questions of construction of the second stage of factories were discussed . TDH writes that it is planned to build a plant in Garabogaz for the production of 600 thousand tons of ammonia and 1 million 155 thousand tons of urea fertilizers, and in Ovadandepe – a plant for the production of 600 thousand tons of gasoline from gas, in Turkmenabat – a plant for the production of 300 thousand tons of phosphate fertilizers, as well as the construction by Turkmen and Japanese businessmen of a plant for the production of 640,000 tons of urea and 400,000 tons of ammonia.
Joint work plans and agreements on these issues will be considered at the 14th meeting of the Turkmen-Japanese Committee for Economic Cooperation.
On the same day, the Chairman of the Halk Maslakhaty took part in the state funeral ceremony of the ex-Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe , and then visited his widow with his wife.
On September 28, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov met with Prime Minister of Japan Fumio Kishida. The parties discussed bilateral cooperation and the possibility of launching a flight on the route Ashgabat-Tokyo-Ashgabat.
At a meeting with Chairman of the Parliamentary League of Turkmen-Japanese Friendship, member of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of Japan Endo Toshiaki , the ex-president said that it was planned to establish cargo and passenger communications on the route Ashgabat-Tokyo and Tokyo-Ashgabat.
The hero-Arkadag also told his colleague that the two countries are united by the love for tea, writes TDH. In this regard, he noted that his book “Tea – Medicine and Inspiration” tells about the benefits of this drink, including the healing properties of green tea brewed on a fire .
On September 29, the Turkmen delegation visited the Tokyo Equestrian Complex, where representatives of the State Association “Turkmen Horses” discussed cooperation with Japanese colleagues and presented them with the ex-president’s book “The Horse is a Symbol of Loyalty and Happiness”.
On September 30, a meeting was held between the Deputy Foreign Ministers of Turkmenistan and Japan, representatives of the UIET with Japanese businessmen, the heads of Vnesheconombank with Japanese colleagues, the chairman of the State Concern “Turkmenhimiya” with the head of JATECO. In addition, the khyakim of the administrative center of the Akhal velayat discussed the Smart City concept with the head of the international relations department of the Tokyo Metropolitan Prefecture.
Source: Chronicles of Turkmenistan