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  5. Minister Saito Held Meeting with H.E. Mr. Rashid Meredov, Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Turkmenistan

Minister Saito Held Meeting with H.E. Mr. Rashid Meredov, Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Turkmenistan

Japanese

January 22, 2024

External Economic Policy

On Monday, January 22, 2024, Mr. Saito Ken, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), held a meeting with H.E. Mr. Rashid Meredov, Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Turkmenistan. The two sides exchanged views on bilateral cooperation in the fields of economy and energy.

Following the meeting, they concluded a memorandum of cooperation on energy transitions between the governments of Japan and Turkmenistan. Also, they witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd./ITOCHU Corporation and Turkmenhimiya LLC, and welcomed the progress made in specific cooperation between Japan and Turkmenistan.

Outline of the meeting

On Monday, January 22, 2024, Minister Saito held a meeting with Deputy Chairman Meredov of Turkmenistan.

In the meeting, the two sides exchanged views on bilateral cooperation in the fields of economy and energy to add further detail to the discussions held at the Ministerial Economic and Energy Dialogue of the “Central Asia plus Japan” Dialogue that was launched in September 2023. Following this, they concluded a memorandum of cooperation on energy transitions between the governments of Japan and Turkmenistan, and confirmed further enhancement of cooperative ties, looking ahead to the Summit Meeting of the “Central Asia plus Japan” Dialogue scheduled to be held in 2024.

In addition, they witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding on GTG,* fertilizer plants, and other efforts between Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd./ITOCHU Corporation and Turkmenhimiya LLC (a Turkmen state-run chemical company). Efforts for specifying such projects are expected to help with the further acceleration of bilateral cooperation in the field of energy in the future.

*Note: The term “GTG” is an initialism for “Gas to Gasoline,” meaning a plant that efficiently manufactures quality gasoline from natural gas as a raw material.

Reference: Memorandum of cooperation on energy transitions between Japan and Turkmenistan

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Turkmenistan, concluded the MOC to promote and enhance Japan-Turkmenistan energy cooperation as an effort to achieve a realistic energy transition taking advantage of all available energy sources, technologies, and options, including the following: energy conservation; renewable energy; hydrogen; ammonia; e-fuels; carbon dioxide capture, utilization and storage (CCUS)/carbon recycling; measures against methane leaks, and highly-efficient power generation technology. The MOC specifies support for the formulation of a roadmap for carbon neutrality and other efforts as a means to achieve the goal. Moreover, the ministries merged into this MOC the memorandum of cooperation (roadmap) on the field of infrastructures between Japan and Turkmenistan, which was signed by the METI minister incumbent at that time and Deputy Chairman Meredov in 2018 and updated in 2019.

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Division in Charge

Russia, Central Asia and Caucasus Office, Trade Policy Bureau

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