Ambassador Myrat Mammetalyyev of the Republic of Turkmenistan in Seoul hosted a reception at Lotte Hotel in Seoul on Nov. 17, 2014 to celebrate the 23rd anniversary of Independence of his country.
Many distinguished guests from Korean society and the international community as well as the Diplomatic Corps of Korea.
Among the Korean guests in attendance were Deputy Minister Lee Jeong-gwan of Foreign Affairs and representatives from the business and various other circles of Korean society, including the media where the guests included Publisher-Chairman of The Korea Post.
From the Diplomatic Corps came many mission chiefs who included Ambassadors Hocine Sahraoui of Algeria, Albino Malungo of Angola, Ramzi Teymurov of Azerbaijan, Natallia Jhylevich of Belarus, Dato Haji Harun Ismail of Brunei Darussalam, Petar Andonov of Bulgaria, Tito Saul Pinilla Pinilla of Colombia, Sylvestre Kouassi Bile of Cote d'Ivoire, Grecia Fiodalicia Pichardo of Dominican Republic, Nikoloz Apkhazava of Georgia, Hassan Taherian of Iran, Dulat Bakisher of Kazakhstan, Gathega Wanyoike of Kenya (CDA), Duishonkul Chotonov of Kyrgyzstan, Ganbold Baasanjav of Mongolia, Mohamed Salim Alharthy of Oman, Zahid Nasrulah Khan of Pakistan, Konstantin V. Vnukov of Russia, Zoran Kazazovic of Serbia, Omrie Michael Golley of Sierra Leone, Tissa Wijeratne of Sri Lanka, Mohamed Ali Nafti of Tunisia, Hakan Okcal of Turkey, Vasyl Marmazov of Ukraine and Bakhtier N. Ibragimov of Uzbekistan (CDA).
As the guests entered the ballroom, each of them was greeted not only by the ambassador and madam and other senior members of the Embassy but also by attractive Turkmen ladies, and was given some pieces of traditional Turkmen cookies.
Speaking to the guests, Ambassador said: “President of the Republic of Korea Park Geun-hye paid a state visit to Turkmenistan in June 2014 - first in the history of the bilateral relations. Both sides outlined the key areas of cooperation, including trade and economic sphere, transport, energy, high technology and other industries. During the visit of President Park Geun-hye several contracts in key industries worth over 4 billion dollars were signed.”
Excerpts from the speech follow:
On the occasion of the 23rd Anniversary of Independence Day of Turkmenistan I have the pleasure to take the opportunity to congratulate you for your important contribution to this meaningful event, because it is the first in the history of Turkmen-Korean relations official Reception in Republic of Korea. Let me to thank the Government of Republic of Korea and all Korean people for their support and fruitful cooperation. I also take this opportunity to express my deep sense of gratitude to all H.E. Ambassadors and diplomats, who work here for support and today’s presence.
Independence of Turkmenistan has laid a solid foundation for active participation of Turkmenistan in the international life and the entry of the country in the ranks of developed countries, the establishment of multifaceted cooperation with many countries and international organizations.
Turkmenistan is a young independent country and has rich and deep history. The determining factor in the development of modern Turkmenistan is the chosen policy of positive neutrality. Next year, our country, together with the United Nations will celebrate the 20th anniversary of unique status of permanent neutrality of Turkmenistan, which was approved on the 50th UN General Assembly.
Due to this status, our country has played an active role in promoting peace and sustainable development worldwide.
Turkmenistan is committed to the principles of peace, good neighbourliness and humanism and has determined the expansion of mutually beneficial cooperation with different countries and international organizations as a priority of the national policy, The policy chosen by Turkmenistan is aimed at defending and strengthening the foundations of state sovereignty, speeding up the development of the national economy, steadily increasing the welfare of the people and promoting the policy of neutrality that ensures the enhancement of mutually beneficial relations with the countries of the planet and major international organizations on the basis of peace and friendship.
Turkmenistan well known to the international community largely thanks holds the world's fourth-largest natural gas reserves. The main priority in the internal policy of Turkmenistan is to increase the social level and wellbeing of the population of our country. More than 70% of the state budget of Turkmenistan is annually allocated for social needs. Turkmenistan annually increases salary, pension, public welfare payments and student stipend by 10%.
It should be emphasized that there is no precedent in the world, such measures of social support available in Turkmenistan, as free gas, water and salt, provision of concessional electricity and gasoline, as well as very low fees for utilities and transportation.
Talking about the Turkmen-Korean relations, I would like to emphasize that Turkmenistan and Republic of Korea have made significant progress in all the areas encompassing our strategic partnership. There has been an exchange of high level visits between two countries and these exchanges have contributed to further strengthening our bilateral political, economic and cultural relations. President of the Republic of Korea Park Geun-hye paid a state visit to Turkmenistan in June 2014 - first in the history of the bilateral relations. Both sides outlined the key areas of cooperation, including trade and economic sphere, transport, energy, high technology and other industries. During the visit of President Park Geun-hye several contracts in key industries worth over 4 billion dollars were signed. So, we have put in place a robust framework and an environment conducive for expanding trade and investment.
We have a dynamic and forward looking bilateral relationship growing day by day through deeper political and economic engagement and, most certainly, people to people exchanges. Once again let me thank the leadership of Republic of Korea for taking interest in the issues concerning the welfare.
I conclude by expressing my strong confidence that the Turkmen-Korean relations will continue to grow and contribute to peace, stability and prosperity.