By Trend

Days of the United Nations Special Program for the Economies of Central Asia (SPECA) are being held in Ashgabat, and they will last through Nov. 21, Trend reports Nov. 19 referring to Turkmen Foreign Ministry.

The heads of the relevant ministries and departments of SPECA member countries including Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan took part in the meeting of the SPECA working group on sustainable transport and transit.

The parties considered the possibility of improving transport and transit systems in the region and beyond, the report said.

During the round table meeting on trade policy, proposals were made to simplify procedures for conducting commercial activities, including improving the investment climate.

High-level international events are held as part of Turkmenistan’s chairmanship in SPECA. Among them are the forum on trade policy of the SPECA countries, meetings of the working groups of the SPECA on sustainable transport and trade, and the SPECA-2019 Economic Forum.

Following the latter, adoption of the "Ashgabat Initiative" document is planned.

In order to implement the documents that are envisaged to be adopted at the above-mentioned events, a corresponding joint work is being carried out with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

SPECA was established in 1998 in accordance with the Tashkent Declaration signed by presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, as well as executive secretaries of UNECE and ESCAP.

Later, the SPECA was joined by Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Afghanistan.

Matters regarding the improvement of communication capacities in the SPECA region, including those between Afghanistan and the countries of Central Asia, are subject of regular discussions during the sessions.

It is known that the creation of quality infrastructure positively influences economic growth, promotes the expansion of trade, optimizes the use of natural resources and reduces production and logistics costs.

At the same time, the growing importance of regional cooperation also affects the increase in the competitiveness of countries in conditions of rapidly changing global processes, according to SPECA.