"Turkmenistan is a growing country, and its importance for our country is also growing," Italian Ambassador to Turkmenistan Luigi Ferrari told the Italian ANS news agency on the sidelines of the Ambassadors' conference in Farnesina (as the Italian Foreign Ministry is called by its location - in the Palace of Farnesin).

The cargo airline Sky Gates Airlines (a subsidiary of Red Wings) put into operation the long-haul Il-96-400T aircraft, which has undergone the procedure for restoring airworthiness, Interfax.Ru reported

The delegation of Turkmenistan headed by Chairman of the State Bank for Foreign Economic Affairs Rahymberdi Jepbarov made a working visit to Tokyo from December 13 to 16.

On December 16-17, Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov, headed by the delegation of Turkmenistan, made a working trip to Afghanistan, Herat province.

The next, 15th meeting in the format of the Turkmenistan-European Union Human Rights Dialogue will be held in Brussels on December 18. And the next day, on December 19, the 22nd meeting of the Turkmenistan-EU joint committee will be held in the Belgian capital to discuss key aspects of bilateral relations, including trade and economy. The 21st meeting of the committee was held in Ashgabat on November 24, 2022.

Since the beginning of this year, Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, has handled more than 5,000 freight trains on China-Europe routes, up 15.6 percent year-on-year, local authorities said on Friday, Xinhua reports.

On December 13-14, 2023, as part of the joint project between UNDP and the Ministry of Finance and Economy of Turkmenistan, “Partnering for SDG acceleration. Phase II", an international UNDP expert, Mr. Maxim Medvedkov, Advisor to the WTO Expertise Center, visited Ashgabat.

The Ministerial Meeting of Landlocked Developing Countries was held in Yerevan, Armenia, on December 14-15. The theme of the event is “Stimulating equal, affordable and inclusive transport links in the name of a stable and sustainable economy.” The meeting is a preparatory stage ahead of the Third Conference of Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDC), which will be held in the capital of Rwanda, Kigali, in June 2024.

In Turkmenistan, on Thursday, December 14, festive events were held throughout the country in honor of the workers of the fuel and energy complex, the flagship industry of the Turkmen economy. The Day of Oil and Gas Industry and Geology Workers was celebrated in all regions of the country and in Ashgabat. A solemn meeting was held in the capital's oil and gas complex building, which was attended by members of the government, the leadership of the country's fuel and energy complex, and the leaders of multidisciplinary production.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has launched a program aimed at developing youth business in Central Asia and Mongolia. This is reported on the EBRD website.