Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, 27-28 May 2021. The Islamic Development Bank’s (IsDB) Regional Hub of Almaty (RHA) has conducted series of meetings held virtually from Almaty (Kazakhstan) and Ashgabat (Turkmenistan) with the IsDB’s Governor for Turkmenistan, Government Ministries, and Executing Agencies to overview the status of current operations and to explore opportunities to expand the portfolio of operations in new potential areas that are priority to the Government of Turkmenistan.

During the meeting which took place on 27 May 2021 Br. Ibrahim Shoukry, Head of the RHA has introduced to H.E. Mr. Rahimberdi Jepbarov, the IsDB Governor for Turkmenistan (Chairman of the Board of the State Bank for Foreign Economic Affairs of Turkmenistan) the IsDB’s new business model (NBM) with emphasis on Member Country Partnership Strategy (MCPS) approach, development of Global Value Chains (GVC) and delivery of alternate development financing tools and integrated financing products and solutions. The Head of RHA highlighted the IsDB Group entities complement to each other efforts and thus target leveraging support to the development aspirations of the Government of Turkmenistan. Its has been also affirmed the IsDB Group stands ready to support Turkmenistan through the Strategic Preparedness and Response Program (SPRP) which is the flagship IsDB Group-wide program to assist member countries to confront the impacts of the global pandemic. The special session has been devoted to present the IsDB’s Reverse Linkage modality, Health Sector Policy and shared detailed information about the SPRP and Vaccine Access Facility (IVAC) that aims to support member-countries by improving access to COVID-19 vaccine.

Br. Ibrahim Shoukry enumerated the numerous impactful projects the IsDB Group undertook in the country in the areas of energy, transport, ICT and health. The cooperation between the IsDB Group and Turkmenistan has been growing satisfactorily. Since its inception, overall IsDB Group approvals have exceeded US$ 1.164 billion, comprising US$ 1.144,3 million by IsDB, US$ 20 million of the of the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) financing, 10 million of trade financing by International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), and US$ 0.3 million financing by other funds. At the moment, IsDB Group's active portfolio in Turkmenistan stands at US$ 623 million. Br. Ibrahim Shoukry affirmed the IsDB Group commitment to continue strengthening cooperation with Turkmenistan.

The IsDB Governor for Turkmenistan, on his part, commended relations between Turkmenistan and the IsDB Group. The Governor expressed appreciation on behalf of the Government of Turkmenistan and praised the IsDB as a most reliable partner for Turkmenistan in pursuing the development objectives of the Government. In particular, the IsDB’s significant role in supporting the projects in Turkmenistan of the regional dimension (North-South Railway Corridor, Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India Gas Pipeline) was noted. These projects ensure the sustainable transport and energy transit corridors, and thus complement to the global and regional initiatives that were taken forward by the President of Turkmenistan and subsequently adopted through Resolutions by the UN GA. The Governor has informed the RHA that the Government of Turkmenistan in pursuing social and economic development goals is prioritizing to diversify the economy by development of the industrial sector, export potential and import substituted production through the increased role of the private sector. In line with these priorities and to pursue these objectives, the Governor has expressed interest to explore the IsDB’s NBM features and readiness to engage with the IsDB Group for further discussions to elaborate on it.

H.E. Mr. Rahimberdi Jepbarov, the IsDB Governor for Turkmenistan and Br. Ibrahim Shoukry, Head of RHA concluded to continue further discussions on the deployment of the NBM and the development of project pipeline in the medium-term in transport, ICT, energy, healthcare, agriculture and water supply management sectors, private sector support, trade finance as well as deployment of Green Sukuk initiative to facilitate the capital market and financial services development in Turkmenistan.

At the conclusion of the meeting, H.E. Mr. Rahimberdi Jepbarov extended an official invitation to the President of Islamic Development Bank, Dr. Bandar Hajjar, to pay an official visit to Turkmenistan.

Turkmenistan officially joined the IsDB in 1994. Turkmenistan is an upper middle-income country of 6.1 (2021) million people and the second largest country by area in the Central Asia. Turkmenistan is a landlocked and mainly desert country located in Central Asia, with an area of 488,100 sq. km. Turkmenistan borders with Afghanistan and Uzbekistan and has access to the Caspian Sea in the West, between Iran and Kazakhstan.