During the briefing in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan on August 27, Permanent UN Coordinator, Permanent UNDP Representative in Turkmenistan Elena Panova noted that friendly and trustful atmosphere inherent to this meeting became the guarantee of the achievement of constructive agreements between five Central Asian states, which was reflected afterwards in the Joint Communique.

Speaking of the timeliness of the Summit, Elena Panova highlighted the appropriateness of the initiatives of Turkmenistan on the development of the UN Special Programme for the Aral Sea basin, which is to provide integrated approach in solution of the problems of the Aral crises with wide participation of all interested parties and to serve as universal platform for efficient cooperation in this direction.

The UN Permanent Coordinator, the UNDP Permanent Representative has also welcomed the decision of the Summit on adoption of the Programme of the Aral Sea Basin (PASB 4) for consolidation of the efforts and potential of the states in the region and international community for solution of common priority water, ecological, social and economic issues of the Aral basin.

Having noted in her speech that President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov highlighted the importance of realization of global sustainable development goals in the context of Aral Sea problems and Central Asian in general, Elena Panova confirmed the willingness of the UN agencies, especially the UNDP, to cooperate with the IFAS, states of the regions, international organizations and all interested structures in the achievement of the sustainable development goals and solution of Aral problems.