Marek Eštok, State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, held talks on specific areas of bilateral cooperation with Ahmet Gurbanov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan. Slovakia and Turkmenistan are working to conclude an intergovernmental agreement aimed at strengthening economic activities.
As the State Secretary of the Foreign Ministry emphasized, in addition to the political dimension, it is necessary to focus on finding ways to deepen economic partnership.
“We perceive Turkmenistan as a country of strategic importance in the Central Asian region. Therefore, we would like to support and revive the political and economic dialogue that has been lacking in recent years,” said M. Eštok.
According to him, a draft intergovernmental agreement on economic cooperation between the two states is currently being prepared. Its result will be the identification of specific opportunities for the development of economic relations.
Turkmenistan is interested in the experience of the Slovak Republic in water management.
“Slovakia is ready to offer its know-how in this area, in which we are already actively cooperating with other countries in the region,” informed the State Secretary.
The states also see potential in the defense, food, energy industries, and tourism.
At the meeting, the partners discussed support for education and the possibility of expanding study stays for Turkmen students at Slovak universities using the scholarship scheme for the most talented. In line with the intention of the Slovak government to address the availability of experts in objectively scarce professions, they also discussed the migration of qualified workers from abroad, including Turkmenistan, to the Slovak labor market.