THE TURKMEN DELEGATION HELD A NUMBER OF MEETINGS IN GENEVA

On April 18, 2023, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Portugal, João Gomes Cravinho, in Geneva, during which the issues of further development of bilateral relations in the political, diplomatic, trade and economic areas were considered. The parties agreed to prepare a document on foreign policy cooperation between the ministries of the two countries.

In addition, on April 18, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan met with the Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, during which issues related to the activation of Turkmenistan in the process of studying the rules and procedures for joining the WTO were considered.

In this context, in July 2020, Turkmenistan joined the activities of the WTO as an observer, and in February 2022, following the meeting of the WTO General Council, Turkmenistan was unanimously approved to grant the status of an acceding country.

The parties noted that at this stage it would be expedient to create a working group responsible for promoting the process and coordinating activities for passing the procedures for joining the WTO.

In particular, it was recommended to pay attention to the preparation of the Memorandum on the country's foreign trade regime and the identification of authorized persons responsible for negotiations.

In this regard, Dr. Ngozi noted during the meeting that the responsible WTO officials are ready to provide active assistance. For these purposes, a high-ranking delegation of the World Trade Organization will be sent to Turkmenistan in May 2023.

On April 19, 2023, as part of the visit of the Turkmen delegation to Geneva, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan met with the Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Antonio Vitorino. During the meeting, a set of issues of cooperation between Turkmenistan and IOM was considered.

In this context, the Turkmen side noted that a “Plan of projects planned for implementation by the Government of Turkmenistan jointly with the Representative Office of the International Organization for Migration in Turkmenistan in 2023” has been prepared, which provides for activities in 2 priority areas - technical cooperation and border management, as well as countering trade people and assistance to migrants.

At the same time, the parties discussed promising areas of cooperation such as migration and climate change, migration and emergencies, migration and healthcare. At the same time, special attention was paid to the active involvement of young people in the implementation of IOM projects in terms of raising awareness about various aspects of migration processes.

At the end of the meeting, the IOM Director General emphasized the important role of Turkmenistan, as a neutral state, in the implementation of the provisions of international treaties in the field of migration.