On November 28-29, Chairman of the Halk Maslakhaty Milli Gengesh (upper house of parliament) of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov was on an official visit to Korea.

 

At a meeting with the Speaker of the National Assembly (unicameral parliament of Korea) Kim Jin Pyo , the ex-president spoke about the Turkmen parliament and historical traditions.

 

“ From time immemorial, it has been customary for Turkmens to choose the most worthy people, wise with life experience, to delegate to them the rights in making the most important decisions … We did not begin to adjust the process of development of Turkmen parliamentarism to an artificial time frame. Consistently developing its practice, the Parliament of Turkmenistan switched to a bicameral form of work. His powers and quantitative composition were significantly expanded,” the state information agency TDH   quotes the ex-president.

 

“Today the Turkmen parliament is not only the legislative branch of power. He is the continuer of historical, centuries-old traditions ,” Berdimuhamedov said and proposed to strengthen the work of the inter-parliamentary friendship group .

 

Kim Jin Pyo talked about beneficial bilateral agreements. According to him, there are opportunities for cooperation in the information technology, fuel and energy sectors, the textile industry, the agricultural segment, as well as in the field of urban planning and architecture.

 

In conclusion, the official recalled that the agreement on the supply of new passenger buses to Ashgabat is being successfully implemented.

 

As a result of the negotiations, the parties signed a Memorandum of Cooperation between the parliaments of the countries.

On November 29, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov discussed bilateral cooperation with President Yoon Sok-yeol . TDH does not provide other details of the negotiations . Both officials were invited by the ex-president to visit Turkmenistan.

 

Chairman of the Halk Maslakhaty discussed cooperation in the transport and logistics sector with the President of the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) Christopher Koo , writes TDH . The ex-president offered the businessman to use the port of Turkmenbashi to transport Korean products to European countries and noted that the transport and transit corridors of Turkmenistan are economically beneficial for Korean partners.

 

Then there was a meeting with representatives of companies: Hyundai Engineering, Hyundai Corporation, Hyundai Motor, Export-Import Bank of Korea KEXIM, LX International Corp., Omnisystem Co Ltd, Daewoo Engineering & Construction, Korea Marine Equipment Research Institute (KOMERI), MESCO, National Institute for the Development of Korean Medicine, Chilgok Clinic at Kyungbuk National University, KITECH Converging Technology Center and KD Navien.

 

Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov assured businessmen that Turkmenistan is undeniably attractive for them due to its resource base, advantageous geographical location, modern legislation, favorable business climate and stability of state institutions .

 

According to him, the state provides investors with significant support in the form of tax, customs, visa, insurance and other benefits. So, now more than 13 projects with the participation of Korean companies have been registered in Turkmenistan for a total amount of over $11 billion.

 

The Chairman of the Halk Maslakhaty said that about 2,000 Korean cars and passenger buses have already been sent to Turkmenistan and the country is ready to increase the volume of purchases. He also said that the construction of a new administrative center of Akhal velayat is at the completion stage and the implementation of Ashgabat City has begun.

 

“We are aware of the interest of Daewoo Engineering & Construction in participating in this project and we support its desire,” the ex-president added. He also invited businessmen to explore the possibility of participating in transport infrastructure projects, in particular, the railway one.

 

There are conditions for cooperation in the fields of telecommunications and cosmonautics . Turkmenistan is also interested in Korea’s experience in the functioning of the financial system, financial and credit institutions, insurance companies and stock exchanges.

 

As a result of the meeting signed:

 

• Memorandum of Understanding between the UIET of Turkmenistan and the Korea International Trade Association;

 

• Memorandum of Understanding between the State Border Service of Turkmenistan and Hyundai Corporation ;

 

• Memorandum of Understanding between the Türkmenawtoulaglary agency of the Transport and Communications Agency and Hyundai Corporation on expanding trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation;

 

• Memorandum of Understanding between the State Committee for Water Resources of Turkmenistan and Hyundai Corporation;

 

• Memorandum of Understanding and Confidentiality Agreement between the State Concern “Türkmenhimiýa” and Daewoo Engineering & Construction;

 

• Memorandum of Understanding between the UIET of Turkmenistan and Hyundai Engineering on the design, provision of equipment and construction of a plant for the production of ammonia and carbamide in the Balkan province.

 

During his official visit to Japan (September 25 – October 1), Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov discussed with Japanese businessmen the construction of the second stage of the factories. Then it was reported that it was planned to build a plant for the production of 600 thousand tons of ammonia and 1 million 155 thousand tons of carbamide fertilizers in Garabogaz (Balkan province), as well as the construction of a plant for the production of 640 thousand tons of urea and 400 thousand tons of ammonia by Turkmen and Japanese businessmen.

The chairman of the Halk Maslakhaty discussed urban planning programs with the head of Daewoo Engineering & Construction Jung Won-ju . In particular, they talked about the use of digital systems and smart city technologies in the construction of facilities for the new administrative center of Akhal velayat.

 

Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov also met with Hong Hyun Sung , CEO of Hyundai Engineering , and President of LX International Corp. Yoon Chun Sung .

 

He told them that within the framework of this visit, members of the Turkmen delegation familiarized their Korean colleagues with the work of a plant for the production of gasoline from natural gas in Akhal velayat and discussed the possibility of their participation in the construction of its second stage. It should be noted that the plant launched in the summer of 2019 (which was financed by the Bank for International Cooperation of Japan) still does not operate at full capacity.

 

Attracting investments in the gas chemical industry of Turkmenistan was discussed during the negotiations between the Chairman of the Board of Vnesheconombank, the Chairman of the State Concern “Türkmenhimiýa” and the Chairman of the UIET with the head of the Export-Import Bank of Korea, Vice President of the Korean State Export Credit Insurance Corporation K-SURE, the head of BAI Energi Corporation.

 

At the meeting of the chairman of the UIET with the heads of the Korean companies Hyundai Engineering and Jies, as well as with the mayor of one of the provinces of Korea, the issues of the participation of the Korean side in the urban development program of Turkmenistan and the implementation of the concept of “smart city” were discussed.

 

 

Source: Chronicles of Turkmenistan