Caspian Economic Forum kicks off in Turkmenistan
The event was opened by President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, who congratulated the participants on the opening of the forum and thanked the heads of Caspian states for the support the initiative of Turkmenistan to hold the first Caspian Economic Forum and active participation in its preparation. He stressed the importance of the forum and named it a significant event as tor the first time the countries of the Caspian region gather to discuss the problems of the region.
The initiative to hold the First Caspian Economic Forum in Turkmenistan was put forward by Pesident Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov at the V Summit of the Heads of the Caspian Littoral States in Aktau, Kazakhstan.
In the framework of the Forum the development of economic cooperation in the Caspian region will be considered. The agenda includes the creation of conditions for major projects, discussion of the role of the economy of the Caspian region in the global context, in the investment attractiveness of oil and gas, electricity, transport, trade, agriculture, tourism and other sectors of the economies of the Caspian States of mutual interest.
The forum brought together the heads of governments of Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan – the five countries surrounding the Caspian sea – who are expected to sign multilateral agreements, delegations of the Caspian states; heads of diplomatic missions and international organizations as wells as a numbers of countries.