The Austrian capital became the venue for the conference "Turkmenistan - OSCE: Regional Cooperation in the Development of Transport and Logistics", which was held in a hybrid format. The event was organized by the delegation of Turkmenistan to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Office of the Coordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities and the OSCE Center in Ashgabat.

More than 60 representatives of Central Asian countries and other OSCE participating states, leading experts in various fields, representatives of the private sector, as well as staff of the UN and other international organizations met here in Vienna.

At the conference, which was a continuation of the Ashgabat meeting in 2018 "Good governance and economic interconnectedness", there were discussed topical economic issues for the Central Asian region, regional cooperation in the field of transport and logistics.

The participants of the event got acquainted with the initiatives of Turkmenistan in the field of economy and sustainable transport, adopted by the "Program for the Development of Transport Diplomacy of Turkmenistan for 2022-2025", with increasing the transport potential of the International Sea Port of Turkmenbashi and its international certification within the framework of the OSCE "Green Ports" project.

The Turkmen side reported on the country's preparations for the International Transport Conference for Landlocked Developing Countries to be held in August.

Turkmenistan's neighbors - representatives of the Central Asian countries - spoke about strengthening regional cooperation in the field of trade facilitation, the development of transport and transit, as well as the digitalization of the economy to facilitate economic and trade ties.

In conclusion, I would like to add that our Turkmenistan-Austrian Society, which has existed since August 2008, in turn does a lot to strengthen ties between Vienna and Ashgabat in many areas: cultural, diplomatic, economic, making a significant contribution to the development of the dialogue between the European and Central Asian regions.

Neda BERGER,
correspondent of ORIENT,
accredited by the Press Service of the Chancellor of Austria,
President of the Turkmen-Austrian Society