Peacemaking is the ultimate goal and essence of Turkmenistan’s noble mission the international community blessed our country to accomplish. The last week marked with the Neutrality Day celebrations – the nationwide and joyful holiday embodying peace, stability, good relations with the countries worldwide and, of course, the indissoluble unity of the revived Turkmen nation highlighted this fact.

Over 16 years of sovereignty Turkmenistan has been building its external relations to face boldly the collision of interests in the region, to achieve peaceful and sustainable development. Standing downstage of the national policy as a historical necessity the status of neutrality agreed with the consistency of this activity that was preconditioned by the national traditions of the Turkmen people, the geopolitical location of the country, its natural, economic potential.

Nowadays, the Turkmen neutrality stands as a key factor of ensuring regional stability, establishing a civilized dialogue among the countries through meeting and harmonizing the geopolitical and national interests. We are ready to advance in this direction, ready to be the support of the United Nations Organisations in the region that President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov resolutely stated addressing the UN General Assembly. Action, action and action – such is the Turkmen leader’s approach to the goals of achieving peace, progress and wellbeing at the national, regional and global levels.

Our goals conform to those of the United Nations, meet the interests of the countries and nations worldwide and it is that our regional long-term strategy is based on. How much the Turkmen leader’s credo is attractive to progressive mankind can be judged from the wide response the celebrations of the 12th anniversary of neutrality of Turkmenistan and the bright and quite symbolic events had all over the world.

Dozens of the official foreign delegations, hundreds of the notable political figures, the statesmen and public figures took part in the celebrations on occasion of opening the UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy and Ashgabat and the Preventive Diplomacy and International Co-Operation International Conference, the title of which spoke for the international community’s endeavours to comprehend and design the new standards of security and the new mechanisms of partnership conforming to the realities of the third millennium.

The heads of the participating delegations were unanimous that the future of the Eurasian continent, its security and stability depended on how well the concerted efforts and steps were thought out. The honorary guests – the heads of the foreign states, the high-ranking officials of the United Nations, European Union, OSCE and other authoritative international organisations emphasized that basing on Turkmenistan’s peacemaking potential and experience of collaboration with the United Nations the Centre for Preventive Diplomacy would be an effective instrument of preventing and settling the conflicts in the region that needed the new incentives for peaceful development and enhancement of economic co-operation.

Those incentives, constructive proposals testifying to how far Turkmenistan was consistent in its endeavours to serve common peace, progress and creation were not long in coming. At the recent sitting of the Cabinet of Ministers Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov put forward the new initiative of significance transcending the Central Asian region.

Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov stated that Turkmenistan would put forward a new initiative aiming to achieve energy security. The Turkmen leader said that the decision had been dictated by the goodwill and the interests of the Turkmen people, the peoples of the region and the international community. The President informed of Turkmenistan’s intent to put the matter to the United Nations for adopting the special resolution.

Turkmenistan’s well-deserved reputation of a peace maker is not occasional. Rich in hydrocarbon resources Turkmenistan continues to demonstrate the highly responsible and constructive approach to effective implementation of its profound potential in the national as well as regional interests. Everyone benefits from our international partnership in the fuel and energy sector, the strategic projects including those initiated by the Turkmen leader – the Caspian and the Trans-Caspian gas pipelines, the gas mains – Turkmenistan-China, Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India.

Turkmen gas import will enable to provide the population of many millions of the Central Asian states with cheap domestic fuel as well as promote industrial growth, create new jobs and solve the social problems in the region. Consumers of the markets in Europe and Far East striving to lay in the alternative sources of energy for the future will benefit from Turkmen gas import as well. In a word, construction of pipelines and transportation links are not only the commercial projects but also the socially oriented projects. Therefore, to ensure safe operation of the international gas and oil transportation systems, to turn the energy routes into the zone of peace, stability and prosperity are of particular importance.

Evaluating the scale of Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov’s new initiative one can unintentionally think that peace and concord are achieved not only through the political steps. Won’t an overall responsibility for the vital facilities be able to unite the nations? Trust and mutual benefit are the theses put forward by the Turkmen leader that expanded the bounds of international relations. Building the new model of co-existence of different countries and nations in the third millennium they serve as the reliable platform for effective interaction with the large international organisations, foreign governments and worlds’ business circles.

The meetings and talks the Turkmen leader had last week – with President of Tajikistan Emomali Rakhmon, the high-ranking officials of the United Nations, European Union, NATO, UNICEF, the ministers of foreign affairs of Afghanistan, Belgium, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Uzbekistan, the top managers of Belgium ENEX process engineering, Malaysian Petronas, American Boeing and John Deere vividly illustrated it.

The diplomats and businessmen noted that Turkmenistan had the profound political and economic potential that opened the brilliant opportunities of expanding and intensifying partnership in all fields. The Turkmen state’s experience of development can be of particular value and use for international community. The favourable investment climate, successful implementation of the large-scale reforms as well as the atmosphere of peace and stability guarantee the country’s resolute and dynamic advancement on the way of progress and welfare.

The opportunities of jointly implementing the large-scale projects including the Turkmenistan-China gas pipeline project, the North-South transport corridor project, the Avaza National Project were discussed in this context. Our partners considered tourism industry, agriculture and other sectors of national economy were considered favourable along with the traditional field of co-operation – the energy sector for concerting efforts. In this regard partnership with Belgian ENEX in applying the environmentally friendly energy-saving technologies is of particular interest.

The welfare of the people and the prosperity of the Motherland are the ultimate goal of the large-scale reforms implemented throughout the country, the formula of the President’s policy. Having initiated the innovative reforms Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov justified the Turkmen people’s confidence and did much more than that predicted by the boldest analytical forecast and expectations. In the country within the incredibly short period the tremendous work has been done the results of which can be seen at every turn. Besides those aforesaid it includes the agrarian sector, the spheres of education, healthcare, urban area development – in a word, each field of national development.

The Law of Turkmenistan “On the State Budget of Turkmenistan for the Year 2008” adopted at the regular meeting of the Mejlis vividly illustrated the social orientation of the national leader’s policy. The fundamental document stipulates for the assignment of the considerable amounts to implement the social development programmes and projects aimed at improving the living standards, increasing the welfare of the Turkmen people. The national development programme is aimed at improving the social and living conditions in the regions is closely interrelated with the aims of solving the social problems. The national development programme stipulates for heavy investments in construction of plants and factories, agro-industrial enterprises, telecommunications facilities, transport and engineering facilities including railways and highways, gas-, water- and energy-supply lines. On the instructions of the President of Turkmenistan the targeted programme stipulating fro construction of schools, kindergartens and comfortable apartment houses meeting the demand of the capital city and each region of the country had been elaborated.

Having declared an individual, human rights and freedoms as the highest value of the Turkmen society the national leader attaches paramount importance to establishment of the genuinely democratic and legal basis of the Turkmen statehood, development of the institutions of civil society, application of the modern election mechanisms and development of local government authorities.

Fully aware of it the citizens of Turkmenistan participated in the elections to local people’s councils on December 9. The high activity of the electorate in the important political action testifies to the unity and civil maturity of the modern Turkmen society, the overall support of the national leader’s progressive course.

Rich in the important meetings, decisions, deeds the last week demonstrated in full the constructive potential of the epoch of new revival of Turkmenistan, the dynamics of the Turkmen leader’s reformative policy aimed for the future when the concepts of progress and welfare would the natural characteristics the Turkmen reality.