Presentation of the book “Turkmenistan along the way to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals” by the President of Turkmenistan at the UN

On October 1, in the framework of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly, the members of the Turkmen delegation made a presentation of the recently published book by President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov “Turkmenistan along the way to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals”.

The representatives of numerous delegations, who arrived from different countries to take part in the session of the UN General Assembly, various UN committees and departments, public figures, and scientists attended the presentation.

Presenting the book to the international community, the head of the Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan emphasized that this book provided a thorough analytical review of the integrated development of our country that possesses the richest natural resources, the impressive industrial, infrastructural and human potential. It provides the readers, including economists, political scientists, sociologists and other experts, with an opportunity to get acquainted with the results of the implementation of the national and sectoral programmes in Turkmenistan, major projects of the socio-economic importance with regard to the achievements of the Sustainable Development Goals.

As noted, the social and economic strategy of Turkmenistan is focused on the interests of each person that meet the Sustainable Development Goals requirements. The new book by the President sets out the strategic tasks of the domestic and foreign policy of the state, its priority directions in the economic, social and environmental spheres.

The new book vividly demonstrates that Turkmenistan attaches great importance to multidisciplinary cooperation with the UN, takes an active part in the process of consolidating the universal efforts to develop a coordinated approach to address such significant issues as strengthening peace and security, achieving the Sustainable Development Goals on the regional and global level.

Today, many countries and international experts have expressed keen interest in Turkmenistan’s achievements. At the same time, all politicians, public figures, experts of authoritative international organizations, connect the unchallenged successes of our country with the scientifically grounded and well-thought-out policy pursued by President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov. The experience accumulated by our country is of tremendous value not only at the national level but at the global one as well.

Those speaking during the presentation noted that the foreign policy of Turkmenistan was distinguished by the innovative approach that addresses the urgent problems of our time, as well as by the dynamism and responsibility. It has become recognizable and has received wide support in the world community, and in the context of the constructive initiatives put forward by the President of Turkmenistan, the authority of our country as an independent neutral and peace-loving state has become even higher.

Undoubtedly, the new book by the President of Turkmenistan will be useful to anyone interested in the current status of our country’s development and its contribution to maintaining the global dialogue and preserving peace on the Earth.

Speaking during the presentation, the Rector of the International University of Humanities and Development described the main areas of cooperation between the UN and Turkmenistan in the field of SDGs, outlined the important results of this activity, including the creation of the Scientific and Methodology Centre for Sustainable Development Goals at the Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, the main task of which is to educate the population, including young people, private structures and public organizations on the vital importance of SDGs.

Turkmenistan ranks among the first countries in the region to launch the adaptation of the global goals. As a result, 17 goals, 148 targets and 175 SDG indicators have been implemented. A special structure - SDGs working group that includes deputy ministers and heads of various institutions was established in the country. The Ministry of Finance and Economy of Turkmenistan is responsible for monitoring and national reporting on the implementation of SDG in the country.

It was also noted that next year Turkmenistan would present its experience in implementing the 2030 Agenda to the world in the framework of the Voluntary National Review. In October, the government of Turkmenistan and the UN will discuss in detail the targets of the six SDGs hat the Voluntary National Review will focus on.

The book “Turkmenistan along the way to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals” presents the facts and statistics to vividly demonstrate the enormous amount of work carried out in the country, as well as the clear justification of future plans.

The Director of the Institute of State, Law and Democracy told the audience about the improvement of the macroeconomic proportions and the external economic policy of Turkmenistan with the aim to ensure the sustainable development. The book by President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov describes the key directions, guidelines and priorities of the national strategy until 2030 in this area.

According to the author, the idea of writing this book was born in 2015, during a working visit to New York, where the government delegation of Turkmenistan took part in the 70th session of the UN General Assembly, in the framework of which the United Nations Summit for the post-2015 development agenda was held.

The most important outcome of this historical meeting was that the world community adopted the comprehensive action plan to address the urgent global challenges in the midterm. However, Turkmenistan started solving the national tasks that are similar to the global Sustainable Development Goals seven years before the UN anniversary Summit. So, one of the first instructions of President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov after being elected to the highest state post was the creation of an unprecedented in its scopes and value targeted social programme with a budget of tens of trillion manats. The main goal of the programme was to improve the living conditions of our compatriots.

The new work by the President tells how the Sustainable Development Goals were implemented in Turkmenistan at the national level, long before they were adopted by the world community.

A number of the Sustainable Development Goals have already been successfully achieved at the national level, and in this regard, our country is ready to share its positive experience and developments with other states.

The book outlines the tasks of the international cooperation, outlines the prospects for public-private partnership in Turkmenistan, specifies the main steps for the comprehensive development of the country. In addition to the infographic, the new edition also includes bright photo illustrations, vividly demonstrating the current standards of living in Turkmenistan.