Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan agree to expand cooperation on transit corridors

At the conclusion of the talks, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, National Leader of the Turkmen people and Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, and President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev adopted a joint statement. The text of the statement has not yet been disclosed.

In the presence of the leaders, memorandums on cooperation in transport and logistics, shipbuilding and civil aviation, as well as an agreement on cooperation between commodity exchanges and other documents were signed.

A briefing with the media followed the negotiations. In his remarks, the President of Uzbekistan praised the productive outcome of the meeting, which, he said, clearly demonstrated the firm political will to develop a strategic partnership in the interests of the peoples of the three countries.

It was stressed that special attention was paid to the development of transit corridors, including the effective use of the ports of Turkmenbashi and Baku and the joint creation of modern logistics infrastructure.

Plans to interconnect existing and future routes in the region in order to deepen the integration of national transport systems were discussed in detail. Uzbekistan emphasized its support for pursuing a coordinated policy in this regard.

This primarily concerns creating favorable conditions for businesses to access international markets and addressing tariff policy issues.

Agreements were reached on joint efforts to develop logistics infrastructure and ferry services across the Caspian Sea.

In addition, the three countries considered opportunities for cooperation in the energy sector – including the development of hydrocarbon fields and the export of electricity.

Tasks to significantly increase the volume of mutual trade and expand the scale of industrial cooperation occupied a central place on the agenda.

The leaders also emphasized measures to promote the supply of high-quality goods by domestic producers to each other’s markets and to create conditions for launching new investment projects with the involvement of the potential of all three countries.

The leaders agreed to expand cooperation on the rational use of water resources and in addressing environmental challenges. A joint program in tourism and cultural exchanges will also be adopted.

The implementation of the decisions and documents signed will be carried out by the governments on the basis of a “roadmap.”

Concluding his remarks, the President of Uzbekistan underlined that this historic meeting will help deepen mutually beneficial cooperation between the three countries, create sustainable trade, transport and energy corridors, and accelerate regional integration processes.