On April 6, 2018, a delegation of Turkmenistan headed by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan S.G.Berdimuhamedov took part in the meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Commonwealth of Independent States in Minsk.
During the meeting, the heads of the foreign ministries of the Commonwealth countries discussed the priority directions of interstate cooperation in the political-diplomatic, trade-economic and cultural-humanitarian spheres.
In this context, regular bilateral consultations between the foreign ministries of the CIS member states on a systemic basis and with a clearly defined agenda were noted as one of the effective mechanisms for interaction.
During the meeting, the participants noted the importance of implementing major regional projects, of which the CIS member states are participants, as well as the projects which are being conducted by the countries that are not members of the Commonwealth.
The cultural and humanitarian component of cooperation has traditionally been the most important positive factor for strengthening friendship and mutual understanding among the peoples of the Commonwealth. In this regard, the delegation of Turkmenistan emphasized that the expansion of contacts through the children's, youth and women's organizations, educational and scientific institutions, as well as the sports communities of the CIS countries, can fill the cooperation in this direction with a qualitatively new content.
As a result of the meeting, the Head of the Turkmen delegation signed a Decision on the implementation of the Plan of multilevel inter-MFA consultations in the framework of the Commonwealth of Independent States for 2017 and the Plan for 2018, as well as the Decision to declare 2021 the Year of Architecture and Urban Development in the Commonwealth of Independent States.
