The official visit by the President of Turkmenistan to Malaysia was aimed not only at significantly strengthening bilateral cooperation but also at giving additional impetus to the entire eastern vector of Turkmenistan’s foreign policy and economic strategy, in which the Asia-Pacific region occupies a crucial place. And in this sense, Malaysia is one of the key states in the region, whose political and economic weight is undeniable, and which is an extremely promising partner for Turkmenistan. Moreover, the relations between the two countries as friendly independent states have a thirty-year good history of mutual respect, equality and mutually beneficial cooperation. Over these years, a strong foundation for economic partnership has been established, a solid contractual and legal framework has been created, and several mutual visits have taken place at the highest state level.
But time does not stand still. There emerge new opportunities and prospects, and the current visit by Serdar Berdimuhamedov to Kuala Lumpur in this sense probably reflected the need for an adequate and timely transition to a higher level of cooperation.
The international agenda has traditionally been one of the priority topics of the talks. In this area, Turkmenistan is determined to continue and strengthen co-operation with Malaysia in ensuring regional and global stability and security. Both countries have a good history of cooperation through international organizations, first of all the UN, and the practice of mutual support. It has proved to be productive and mutually beneficial, and it now tends to expand and include sustainable development goals, transport and energy, ecology, food security, and humanitarian issues in the negotiating agenda.
President Serdar Berdimuhamedov and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim noted the prospects of closer and more active cooperation within the framework of other multilateral structures. The basic approaches of Turkmenistan and Malaysia are in line with the objective trends of increasing the role and representation of developing countries in world politics, their influence on strategic decision-making through equal dialogue and consideration of the interests of all its participants. In this context, Turkmenistan’s global initiative “Dialogue as a Guarantee of Peace” can serve as a good platform for cooperation between the two countries in the world arena.
The diplomatic interaction between Turkmenistan and Malaysia appears equally productive in promoting Turkmenistan’s initiatives on the development of the UN Global Security Strategy, put forward at the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, and declaring 2025 “International Year of Peace and Trust” by the UN, which was unanimously supported by all UN members and co-authored by 86 states.
“We successfully cooperate and support each other within the framework of major international structures such as the United Nations, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Non-Aligned Movement. We also highly appreciate Malaysia’s respect for Turkmenistan’s foreign policy,” President Serdar Berdimuhamedov said, reaffirming that Turkmenistan, in turn, will continue supporting the Malaysian initiatives to strengthen international peace and security and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
In recent years, parliamentary diplomacy has gained a special role in the international arena. Speaking about this, Serdar Berdimuhamedov stressed the importance of the Turkmen-Malaysian parliamentary dialogue, proposing to intensify contacts between parliamentarians and develop a plan for the participation of representatives of legislative bodies in major international forums held in both countries.
The sides paid great attention to coordinating efforts to create a climate of trust and mutual understanding and strengthening stability at the regional level. As is known, Malaysia is one of the leading members of the influential Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Turkmenistan considers this region among the priority areas of its international activities, primarily in the trade and economic sphere.
Malaysia assumes the chairmanship of ASEAN in 2025, and this fact is important for Turkmenistan in terms of participation in the processes of economic, trade, transport and technological interaction with the countries of the region. No less important are the political aspect of cooperation with ASEAN, including on the basis of the “ASEAN Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality (ZOPFAN)” and Turkmenistan’s initiatives to create a “Zone of Peace, Trust and Cooperation in Central Asia”.
It is clear that adherence to these principles will further strengthen the Turkmen-Malaysian relations, promoting mutual understanding, sovereign regional identity in Central Asia and the Asia-Pacific region, and increasing joint efforts to ensure security and balance of interests therein. Thus, a serious strategic perspective is emerging for Turkmenistan in the eastern direction on the basis of equality, mutual benefit, respect and convergence of interests in the name of peace, stability and sustainable development.
Malaysia is a long-standing traditional partner of Turkmenistan in the trade and economic sphere. Today, the task is to accelerate this cooperation and bring it to a level that meets modern realities and mutual potential.
Focusing on partnership in the fuel and energy sector, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim expressed sincere gratitude on behalf of Malaysia to President Serdar Berdimuhamedov for the favorable conditions created in Turkmenistan for the effective operation of the state oil and gas company “Petronas”.
It was also proposed during the talks that the sides discuss in detail cooperation in such sectors as agriculture, textile industry, energy and transport. The Turkmen side proposed establishing a joint Turkmen-Malaysian intergovernmental commission on economic and scientific-technical cooperation to make partnership in these and other spheres systematic and comprehensive. Serdar Berdimuhamedov also spoke in favour of a more active role of business circles of both countries. In 2015, a joint Turkmen-Malaysian business forum was held in Kuala Lumpur. The President of Turkmenistan proposed to continue this practice and hold the next forum in Ashgabat.
The sides stressed the importance of expanding bilateral cooperation in culture, education, tourism and sports. Agreements were reached on holding joint events aimed at maintaining a cultural and humanitarian dialogue between the friendly peoples and expanding bilateral relations in this area.
In his statement to the press after the talks, the President of Turkmenistan highly rated the results of the visit to Malaysia, noting that the agreements reached and important documents adopted during the visit would make it possible to significantly deepen bilateral relations and realize the enormous potential for cooperation in trade, economic, cultural, humanitarian and other areas.