On March 28, 2022, a briefing was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, timed to coincide with the adoption by the UN General Assembly of the resolution “Integration of mainstream bicycling into public transportation systems for sustainable development” and the election of Turkmenistan as a member of the UN Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) for the period 2022–2028 years.The briefing was attended by the leadership and staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, heads of diplomatic missions and representative offices of international organizations working in Turkmenistan, representatives of local media.The speeches of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the head of the UN Regional Center for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA) Natalia Gherman, the UN Resident Coordinator in Turkmenistan Dmitry Shlapachenko, the Head of the Country Office of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Turkmenistan Yegor Zaitsev and others were heard.During his speech, the Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov emphasized that the political events that have recently taken place in the country are of great importance, both in terms of the internal development of the state and society, and the development of international activities of Turkmenistan.
The Minister emphasized the special importance of adopting by the beginning of 2022 of 17 resolutions of the UN General Assembly, the author of which was Turkmenistan, of which 16 resolutions were adopted in the last 15 years. At the same time, Turkmenistan continues to carry out active international activities within the framework of the institutions of the United Nations system, being currently a member of 11 councils, commissions and committees of the UN, R. Meredov added.As is known, 62 states co-sponsored the current Resolution, which calls for the comprehensive implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, the promotion of healthy lifestyles, the development of environmentally friendly modes of transport and the improvement of road safety.In this regard, the Minister stated that Turkmenistan is ready to hold an International Conference in 2022 on the role of cycling in ensuring the sustainability and environmental friendliness of urban transport systems.It was noted that partnership with the UN allows Turkmenistan to realize its neutral status as an important factor of regional stability and security. In this context, R. Meredov, noting the importance of the foreign policy success of Turkmenistan – the country’s election as a member of the UN Commission on International Trade Law for the period of 2022-2028, stressed that this is the result of the systematic implementation of the goals and objectives outlined in the “Program for the development of foreign economic activity of Turkmenistan for 2020 -2025” and “Foreign trade strategy of Turkmenistan for 2021-2030”.As noted during the speeches, the election of Turkmenistan to the UN Commission on International Trade Law is the result of purposeful work to implement the strategic course of our country for full integration into international economic and trade relations.In addition, the participants of the briefing were shown a video film about the foreign policy initiatives of Turkmenistan.During the briefing, the participants of the event received not only detailed information on the latest events in the international life of the country, presented by the speakers, but also the opportunity to ask their questions.