The regional seminar focused on public services improvement started under the United Nations aegis in Ashgabat. The international forum organised by the Government of Turkmenistan, the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs and the UN Development Programme brought together the high-ranking officials of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Georgia, Turkmenistan, the UN experts and NISPACee specialists (the Network of Institutes and Schools of Public Administration in Central and Eastern Europe), the consultants from the countries worldwide. The theme - leadership, ethics, accountability and professionalism in the public sector.

Greeting the participants Director of UN/DESA Division for Social Policy and Development Alexey Tikhomirov emphasized that the three-day seminar for the public servants in the Central Asian countries was an important aspect of the special programme aimed at strengthening the capacity of public servants and public sector leaders at local, national and regional levels. The programme was centered on such critical areas as leadership education and training, professionalism and ethics in the public service, public service charters and codes of conduct, strengthening the capacities of institutes of public administration, public service performance evaluation.

The seminar scheduled during President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov’s visit to New York evidenced successful development of Turkmenistan-UN co-operation on the strategic, long-term basis.

Welcoming the reforms initiated in Turkmenistan and aimed at strengthening the democratic foundation of the independent Turkmen state and steadily improving the institutes of public administration including expanding the authorities of local self-governing bodies the participants noted that the meetings of such kind met the strategic goals of national development and offered a powerful incentive to intensify interaction in the relevant field.

Focusing on the reforms in the public sector to achieve sustainable economic growth and improve the public services the participants put emphasis on taking into account the regional and national specifics defining the approaches to the public administration. The participants were unanimous that the guarantees of the public sector leaders professionalism, ethical behavior, integrity, responsiveness to the needs of the public and with regard to high standards of accountability were a critical instrument to achieve effective administration.

The participants of the Ashgabat meeting - the public sector employees and leaders of the institutes of public administration in the Central Asian countries, will share experience on the work done in their countries and exchange views on the issues of mutual interest.