Grandiosity, modern thinking and aiming at the future – most Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov’s undertakings can be characterised thus, whether it be construction of the transnational gas pipelines Turkmenistan-China and Turkmenistan-Kazakhstan-Russia or the grandiose projects on creation of the Avaza national tourism zone and construction of the North-South transport corridor. The National Programme on improvement of social and living conditions in villages, settlements, towns in the etraps and etrap centres approved by the Turkmen leader at the sitting of the Cabinet of Ministers on December 17 is to achieve these goals. The budget of the targeted social programme of the unprecedented scale and significance is 70.5 trillion manat, which the government invests to improve the living conditions of the majority of the population of Turkmenistan. The long-term Programme covers three periods: 2008-2010, 2011-2015 and 2016-2020.

In accordance with the Resolution of the President of Turkmenistan the programme has been elaborated since this spring. The President issued the Resolution after he had returned from his trip to Esenguly Etrap, Balkan Velayat. The Resolution on integrated social and economic development of the region and the prompt work to fulfil the Resolution was a pilot project to expand the activity throughout the country within the framework of the National Programme. To design the Programme the State Commission chaired by the President of Turkmenistan was established and the ministries and departments were instructed in collaboration with the velayat khyakimliks to manage the activity aimed at working out the measures to improve the living conditions in rural areas.

The needs of people in each village, settlement, town in the etraps and etrap centres were studied in order to prepare the relevant proposals on reconstruction and construction of schools, kindergartens, apartment houses, cultural and social facilities, gas-, water- and power supply systems, communication lines and submit them to the departmental and velayat commissions responsible for drafting the Programme and coordinated by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. During the year the work on drafting the Programme was discussed at the sittings of the Cabinet of Ministers. The specialists of the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Institute of Strategic Planning and Economic Development summed up the results of the important laborious work and the diverse information were summarized in the voluminous document containing the specific tasks for the departments and regional authorities. The document designed to be an action plan on the new life quality for millions of our compatriots will be distributed among the high-ranking executives.

The President charged the Velayat khyakimliks and the relevant ministries and departments with the job of working out the measures each year to achieve the particular goals of the National Programme, approving the list of the construction projects after the Ministry of Economy and Finance had endorsed the list. The existing industrial, financial and labour resources would be used to improve profoundly the living conditions in rural areas of Turkmenistan.

From the first days of independence Turkmenistan has proved out as a social welfare state, in which economic development is interrelated with implementation of the particular social development programmes. Such is the new Programme stipulating substantial direct state investments in the social sphere and accumulation of human capital. Creating the worthy working and living conditions is a crucial factor of the success of the reforms, in particular in the agricultural sector. In a word, the National Programme is an important part in the series of the remarkable sometimes revolutionary steps the Turkmen leader takes to promote agricultural production, to stimulate business initiatives and activities of citizens and strengthen Turkmenistan’s food security, as the final result.

The programme of fundamental reforms in the regions covers all the aspects of social development – education, healthcare, children’s pre-school establishments, culture, sports. It stipulates for road construction, settlements improvement, solutions to the problems of supply of water, power and gas to rural areas. Liquefied gas will be supplied to the remote regions. Housing construction is a focus of the National Programme. Local population willing to build their own houses can rely on the state support in purchasing construction materials.

The programme will turn the country into a huge construction site and offer the national construction industry a powerful incentive to implement its profound potential in full. Nowadays, significant importance is attached to development of this sector of national economy: the construction industry development strategy is being elaborated, the cement works and construction materials industry facilities are under construction. Nevertheless, the President calls for improving construction industry management, ensuring the effective process of production, monitoring and intensifying it.

Summing up the discussion of the key parameters of national economic development in 2007 at the recent sitting of the Cabinet of Ministers the Turkmen leader emphasized that Turkmenistan ranked among the leading countries worldwide by per capita national output and that the economic accomplishments would continue to work for the welfare of the Turkmen people. The goals would be achieved through implementing the National Programme, which would enable to improve the opportunities and quality of medical services and education, level up the social and living conditions in urban and rural areas. As a whole that will enable Turkmenistan to bring the human development index closer to the international standards.