Tashkent to host Turkmen-Uzbek high-level talks
The state visit to Tashkent by the President Berdimuhamedov will begin on 23 April, Monday, the TDH reports with reference to the Turkmen Foreign Ministry. The Turkmen leader will visit neighboring country by the invitation of Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. The two leaders will hold talks at Kuksaray's residence both in tête-à-tête and with the participation of delegations, with bilateral accords scheduled to be signed afterwards. According to Uzbek media reports, the presidents are scheduled to visit a street in Tashkent named after the Turkmen poet of Makhtumkuli built near the Ashgabat Park and attend the opening ceremony of the Ashgabat Avenue as well as participate in the cultural events in the Khorezm region. Today, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are boosting business development. The forthcoming visit opens great prospects for strengthening cooperation between Turkmen and Uzbek entrepreneurs, and creates new conditions for closer interaction in the regional market. As reported by ORIENT, Turkmen entrepreneurs will build Ashgabat – Turkmenabad highway. This 620-kilometer highway will ease access of cargo flows from Turkmenistan to Uzbekistan, and further to an extensive international transport network. During the visit to the Avaza National Tourist Zone in May 2017, Mirziyoyev also stressed that Uzbekistan aims to exit via Turkmenistan's ports to the Caspian Sea and international transport corridors. The implementation of the Ashgabat –Turkmenabad and Ashgabat – Turkmenbashi highway projects will allow Uzbek goods to reach the Caspian Sea by a direct, shortest route. In addition, the Turkmenbashi International Sea Port that is to be launched soon will open a completely new page in the history of the development of transport infrastructure in the Asian region. During these five years, within Uzbekistan’s Development Strategy, more than 600 investment projects are scheduled for implementation until 2021. It is entirely expected that the high-level talks will touch on the issue of mutual investment, which will be mutually beneficial to neighboring states. It is worth mentioning that President Shavkat Mirziyoyev paid his first state visit as the leader of Uzbekistan to Turkmenistan. The Uzbek leader emphasized that Turkmenistan was and remains a strategic partner in the region for Uzbekistan.
