Turkmenistan Delegation Participates in High-Level Forum on Sustainable Development in New York

Ashgabat : The delegation of Turkmenistan led by the Minister of Finance and Economy, Mr. Serdar Jorayev, took part in the events within the High-Level Forum on Sustainable Development on the theme: “Accelerating the recovery from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at all levels” in New York.

During the plenary session of the Forum on the same day, Minister delivered his statement and highlighted the priority areas of national sustainable development initiatives, and activities for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at the national level and in the international format. In his speech, the high degree of integration of global development goals into medium-term and long-term national socio-economic programs and strategies was noted.

Minister elaborated on Turkmenistan’s commitment to improving the standard of living for its population, promoting a healthy lifestyle, ensuring inclusive and high-quality education, fostering environmental sustainability, and driving innovations across all economic sectors. He also underlined that despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, Turkmenistan managed to maintain the stability of economic development without stopping the growth of key industries.

On the same day, within the High-Level Forum on Sustainable Development at the UN headquarters, the Permanent Mission of Turkmenistan organized a side event entitled “Sustainable Urban Transportation: Towards the UNGA High-level Meeting on Sustainable Transport and Arkadag City’s Model for SDG 11”.

This event saw the participation of distinguished figures such as the UN Under-Secretary-General Ms. Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, the Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) Mr. Michal Mlynar, Deputy Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Mr. Dmitry Maryasin, Deputy Director-General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) Mr. Xiong Zou, Director of the New York Office of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Mr. Jamil Ahmad, Executive Secretary of the International Centre for Transport Diplomacy Mr. Igor Rounov.

In opening remarks, the moderator, Permanent Representative Ambassador Ataeva, stressed the importance of countries sharing their experiences, challenges, and success stories to accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. She also mentioned that Turkmenistan would present its second Voluntary National Review (VNR) in two days, highlighting the country’s progress in achieving the SDGs.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ms. Mahri Bashimova, highlighted Turkmenistan’s efforts to strengthen transport sustainability internationally. She mentioned the UN General Assembly resolution initiated by Turkmenistan that proclaimed November 26 as World Sustainable Transport Day, and emphasized the significance of the upcoming High-Level Meeting of the 78th session of the General Assembly on sustainable transport, scheduled for November.

Deputy Minister noted that Turkmenistan, promoting initiatives to strengthen transport sustainability, laid the foundation for a multilateral dialogue in this area, through the relevant resolutions of the UN General Assembly and organizing the first Global Conference on Sustainable Transport held in Turkmenistan in 2016, as well as the Ministerial Transport Conference for landlocked developing countries in 2022.

Presenting the new city of Arkadag, Deputy Minister stressed that the project of the new city is aimed primarily at solving the main task of the socio-economic development of Turkmenistan – improving the welfare and living conditions of the population. She noted that the smart city project has become an indicator of the serious efforts of the Government in modern urban development, the adaptation of advanced methods and technologies, in public health and digital medicine, achieving environmental sustainability and reducing environmental impact.

The participants of the event stressed their readiness to continue to cooperate with the Government of Turkmenistan on the implementation of this large-scale project in close partnership with the specialized agencies of the United Nations.

Support was expressed for Turkmenistan’s proposal to hold joint meetings of the Group of Friends of Sustainable Transport, co-chaired by Turkmenistan, and the Group of Friends of UN-Habitat, with a focus on strengthening the sustainability of urban transport systems.
During the day the delegation of Turkmenistan also met with the Executive Director of the UN-Habitat Programme,  Ms. Maimunah Mohd Sharif, and the Deputy Executive Secretary of the UNECE, Mr. Dmitry Maryasin.

To discuss the ways to expand cooperation and prospects for the implementation of joint initiatives in transport, energy, water resources management, ecology and urban development.

On July 19, Turkmenistan submitted the second Voluntary National Review on the implementation of the SDGs, which, in addition to the main five goals, includes additional tasks in such key areas as healthcare, quality education, welfare, food security, gender equality, and combating climate change.

A distinctive feature of the national report is the analysis of the comparability of the SDGs with the country’s strategic documents and other Goals, which are schematically presented in the Review, as well as the comprehensive nature of the review, reflecting not only government programs, but also the role of the private sector and non-governmental organizations.