Moldovan head of state meets president of Turkmenistan

Chisinau, 11 October /MOLDPRES/ - President of Moldova Igor Dodon pays a working visit to Ashgabat, where he will participate in the Council of Heads of State of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Initially, Dodon had a meeting with President of Turkmenistan Gurbanbuly Berdymukhamedov, the presidential press service has reported.  

At the meeting, the Moldovan president stressed the importance of the discussion, in order to strengthen the bilateral relations. Igor Dodon noted that the previous meeting with the president of Turkmenistan had taken place in September 2017, at the opening of the fifth issue of the Asian Games and an official visit by the Moldovan head of state to Ashgabat was paid in April 2015.

Igor Dodon stressed that the political dialogue between the two states was developing much more intensely than the commercial and economic ties, which need to be boosted and are not turned to account at their true value.

Also, the president of Moldova emphasized the need to resume the work of the inter-governmental commission for commercial and economic cooperation, which has not held meetings in the last four years. “There is mutual interest in the organization of business forums with the participation of business people from both states, taking to consideration the fact that the Turkmen side is willing to increase the import of Moldovan farming products and the export of gas to Moldova,” Dodon said.

The Moldovan president thanked the Turkmen partners for the carrying out of more social and humanitarian projects in Moldova, especially for the building, at an initiative and with the support of the president of Turkmenistan, of a kindergarten in the Cismichioi village, southern Gagauz autonomy.  

At the end of the meeting, Igor Dodon highly appreciated Turkmenistan’s foreign policy strategy, based on the principle of permanent neutrality, recognized at the United Nations General Assembly in December 1995. President Igor Dodon stressed that Moldova was studying Turkmenistan’s experience and was promoting a balanced foreign policy on basis of the constitutional principle of permanent neutrality.