Speaking at the 5th Summit of the Heads of Caspian Littoral States, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov identified environmental issues as priority aspect of cooperation in the Caspian. The Turkmen leader noted that on this day 12 years ago, the Framework Convention for the Protection of the Maritime Environment of the Caspian Sea came into force. This date is celebrated in the Caspian littoral states as the Caspian Sea Day. And the holding of the 5th Caspian Summit on 12 August is of great significance that is not just symbolic, as the signing of the Protocol on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context to the Tehran Convention will become yet another step towards boosting partnership to preserve the fragile ecosystems of the Caspian. This fall Turkmenistan will host the session of the Coordinating Committee on Hydrometeorology of the Caspian Sea, where the authorized representatives of the Caspian littoral states are expected to adopt decisions vital for improving the work of the Committee as the intergovernmental body. President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov noted the importance of close coordination between the other interstate and intergovernmental environmental authorities already established by the five coastal countries. The Commission for Preservation and Rational Use of Water and Biological Resources and the Secretariat of the Tehran Convention are among them. All economic activity in the Caspian needs strong scientific backup and must rely upon the holistic view of ongoing natural and anthropogenic processes, and the system of monitoring and forecasting, stressed the President of Turkmenistan and called for the development of a pentalateral Agreement on Conducting Research in the Caspian Sea. President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov further noted that we need to advance the implementation of the provisions of the Agreement on Cooperation in Prevention and Containment of Emergencies in the Caspian Sea. The Communiqué of the 4th Caspian Summit provided for the establishment of the response mechanism for emergencies. Taking into account the fact that the large part of the maritime area of the Caspian is a common aquatic space, further work in this area is vital. The response mechanism is also an important component of search and rescue operations in the sea. In this aspect, the development of a pentalateral Agreement on Search and Rescue in the Caspian acquires specific relevance, stressed the head of Turkmenistan.