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to the creation of this Uzbekistan- of the Eurasian motor transportation cooperation in this sphere. The reso-
Turkmenistan-Iran- Oman transport network within the territory of Turk- lution was co-sponsored by sixty-six
corridor. Following the results of menistan. countries, including all the countries
negotiations, a Memorandum of of Central Asia, and a considerable
Understanding was approved and sig- Turkmenistan has also signed the number of countries from the Asia-
ned. The Ashgabat forum has permit- "Joint Declaration on the Promotion Pacific, European, Latin American and
ted an exchange of views on a number of the Eurasian Rail Transport and African regions, in particular landloc-
of issues regarding the implementa- Activities towards Unified Railway ked countries. The document was sup-
tion of this project and ensuring the Regulations" and the "Joint Statement ported by all UN member states and
proper functioning of a new transport on the Future Development of Eurasian accepted by consensus.
corridor. Transport Links" agreed in Geneva
in February 2013.
The programme of the Conference's
first day also included a quadripar- At the end of the high-level inter-
tite meeting on constructing an Af- national conference on "The Role
ghanistan-Turkmenistan-Azerbai- of Transit and Transport Corridors
jan-Georgia transport corridor. This in Ensuring International Coop-
project would provide new oppor- eration and Sustainable Develop-
tunities for member countries and ment", the Ashgabat Declaration was
other states of the region to reach adopted "On the Role of Transport
world markets, at the same time as and Transit Corridors in Ensuring
promoting broader trade and econo- International Cooperation, Stabi-
mic relations in the Eurasian region. lity and Sustainable Development".
Certainly, this project would also As a result, in December 2014 and
promote the social and economic upon the initiative of Turkmenistan,
revival of Afghanistan by connecting delegates in the Second Committee of
it to large regional and internatio- the United Nations General Assembly
nal infrastructural projects, such as adopted a resolution on "The Role of
TRACECA. It would connect these Transport and Transit Corridors in
neighbouring countries into a global Ensuring International Cooperation
system of economic communica- for Sustainable Development". It is
tions. In keeping with its peace- important to emphasize that for the
keeping policy, neutral Turkmenistan is first time the issue of cooperation in
invariably a supporter of diversifi- the transport sphere was reflected in
cation of transport routes as a key a document of the General Assem-
element in the development of wide- bly. This resolution consolidates the
spread international cooperation. initiative on the creation of a global
partnership for sustainable transport.
Today, Turkmenistan acts as a vital link The key elements of the Ashgabat
in the formation of a new regional and Declaration adopted in September
interregional transport and commu- 2014, providing for an integrated
nication infrastructure, the existence approach to the development of trans- Lastly, I would like to take this
of which is one of the major factors in port and transit communications, opportunity to express my grati-
global social and economic progress. are reflected in the provisions of the tude to the editorial staff of the Diva
This has been clearly demonstrated by United Nations resolution. The docu- International Diplomat magazine for
the project to construct a Turkmen- ment lays the foundation for creating the interest shown in our country of
istan-Afghanistan-Tajikistan railway international transport networks com- Turkmenistan, and also for the work
line, which has also been initiated by bining road, railway, maritime and air of editing and publishing the articles
Turkmenistan and would be imple- routes by means of intermodal logistic covering international subjects,
mented jointly with the partner states. centres and overland freight termi- economy, culture, education and the
Together with the project to create nals. The resolution also provides for humanitarian sphere, and particularly
an Afghanistan-Turkmenistan-Azer- the mobilization of financial and tech- those articles devoted to the activities
baijan-Georgia transport corridor, it nical resources from the international of the diplomatic corps accredited
would revolutionize the transit and monetary institutions. to the international organizations in
transport capacity of the region in par- Geneva.
a
ticular and of the Eurasian continent The document contains an appeal to
in general, thus ensuring widespread the Secretary-General, in consulta-
well-being and prosperity. Following tion with member countries of the
the results of a forum, a number of UN and the relevant institutions of
documents have been signed, such as the UN system, to prepare a report for
the Memorandum of Understanding the seventieth session of the United
between the Government of Turkmen- Nations General Assembly in 2015
istan and the IRU on the development on ways of expanding international

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