On March 6, President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov conducted a regular Cabinet session to sum up this year’s two-month work results in the national economy’s sectors and the country’s socio-economic development, as well as to consider drafts of a number of documents and other important issues of state life. Turning to the agenda of session, the head of state gave the floor to its participants. Cabinet Deputy Chairman A. Gochyev reported on the January-February outcomes of socio-economic development of the country. In the period under review, the GDP growth rate made up 110.1 percent and the total production output value was 110.2 percent. Retail trade turnover in January-February increased by 15.4 percent as compared to the last year’s relevant period. As reported, construction of large industrial and socio-cultural facilities was well under way in the period under report, and the volume of assimilated investments from all financing sources made up 105.1 percent against last year’s indicator. The ratio of the index to the GDP growth rate was 36.2 percent. The Vice-Premier also informed that on the results of the two months, in accordance with the revised National Development Program, 194 social purpose buildings, 959.7 thousand square meters of dwelling, as well as engineering-technical systems and facilities were under construction in the country. The volume of assimilated investments increased by 15.9 percent as compared to the same period in 2014. The report also included the information about the ongoing work on realization of the 2013-2016 State Program for privatization of state-owned enterprises and facilities in Turkmenistan. In this context, a list of state-run enterprises and facilities offered for privatization in the second phase of the program was submitted for consideration by President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov. On the whole, having approved the presented list of state-owned enterprises and facilities, the leader of nation gave the Vice-Premier a number of relevant commissions. Chairperson of Mejlis of Turkmenistan A. Nurberdyeva focused on the two-month activity of the national parliament. As noted, 25 laws and 15 resolutions of Mejlis of Turkmenistan have been elaborated and adopted. They are drawn up with a glance to top priorities of the state policy and within the framework of the legal reform initiated by the nation’s leader. At present, the work on improving the Constitution of Turkmenistan is in progress. Eleven sessions of the Working Group were held to analyze the incoming issue-associated proposals. Reporting on the work accomplished by Mejlis on setting up an honorary title - “People’s Horse Breeder of Turkmenistan” and patterns of the relevant badge, the head of parliament submitted the issue for consideration by the head of state. There are many people in our country, who have devoted their lives to work with “heavenly” horses and acquired proficiency in the occupation, chosen at the call of the heart and who are, undoubtedly, worthy of respect and honor, the leader of nation said, having supported the proposal on setting up the honorary title – “People’s Horse Breeder of Turkmenistan”. The two-month outcomes of work of the Ministry in the context of the 2013-2017 State Foreign Policy Conception of the country, fulfillment of the assignments given earlier by the head of state were in the center of the report made by Cabinet Deputy Chairman, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan R. Meredov. As informed, 71 foreign delegations paid visits to Turkmenistan through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in January and February. At the same time, 94 delegations of our country were sent to foreign countries. Besides, 26 different events were organized jointly with foreign partners. Regular bilateral consultations between Ministries of Foreign Affairs as well as the activity of Joint Intergovernmental Commissions are aimed at strengthening and broadening fruitful, friendly relations between Turkmenistan and other countries of the world. Thus, 9 consultations and 6 meetings of the within-said commissions took place in the period under report. The Minister of Foreign Affairs also informed about the ongoing preparations for a state visit by the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran to our country on March 10-11. The Turkmen-Iranian top-level talks are expected to result in signing a package of bilateral documents, which will add to the solid normative legal base of the interstate cooperation, which actively develops both in the trade-economic and humanitarian-cultural areas. The report also covered the preparations for the working visit by President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov to Japan (scheduled for March 12-14), where the III UN World International Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction would be held in the city of Sendai. Further, Cabinet Deputy Chairman A. Yazmyradov made a report on the two-month activity of the supervised sectors, and implementation progress of the seasonal agri-works. On the whole, the production growth rate in the agro-industrial complex made up 101.7 percent. As for the sectoral ministries, the report was backed up by the following figures: the Ministry of Agriculture – 103.1 p.c.; the Ministry of Water Economy – 110.2 p.c; the Ministry of Nature Protection – 104.6 p.c.; the “Turkmengallaonumleri” State Association – 125.4 p.c.; the “Turkmenobahyzmat” State Association – 102.8 p.c.; the State Food Industry Association – 106.1 p.c.; the State Livestock Association – 116.7 p.c.; the “Turkmen Atlary” State Association –165.8 p.c. At present, the preparations for the spring cotton sowing campaign are well under way in velayats. At the same time, the work on tending winter grain crops and additional mineral fertilizing is in progress. The necessary steps are being taken to ensure weed control. In her turn, Cabinet Deputy Chairperson M. Yazmuhammedova informed about the two-month activity of the sectors she is responsible for, the various events organized in the period under review, including the festivities held in honor of the national holidays and inauguration of social- and cultural-purpose objects, timed to them. In the frames of the development of international cooperation in the field of culture, the administrative center of Mary velayat hosted a celebration on the occasion of announcement by the International Turkic Culture Organization (TURKSOY) Mary city the cultural capital of the Turkic world in 2015; American films were shown in Ashgabat. Culture Days of the Islamic Republic of Iran were held in the Turkmen capital. The events in honor of the 20th anniversary of Turkmenistan’s neutrality and announcement of 2015 the Year of Neutrality and Peace are held with great success in our country and beyond. In the period under review, the State Publishing Service of Turkmenistan published 50 kinds of books, including 32 textbooks and teaching aids, fiction books of renowned Turkmen writers. In the frames of preparations for the V Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, the Turkmen-Arabian Dictionary of Sports was published. The work outcomes of enterprises of the fuel and energy complex in the period under review were in the focus of the follow-up report of Cabinet Deputy Chairman B. Hojamuhammedov. In particular, the Vice-Premier informed that the production growth rate of oil and gas condensate made up 109.2 percent; natural and associated gas – 105.2 percent; exports of the ‘blue fuel’ to foreign countries made up 107.6 percent. In comparison with the same period of 2014, output of some petroleum products, including gasoline, polypropylene, technical lubricating oils, and liquefied gas grew. Drilling operations increased 1.8 times as much. Then, the floor was given to Cabinet Deputy Chairman B. Ereshov to report on the work accomplished in the period under review by ministries and agencies of the industrial complex of Turkmenistan. According to the Ministry of Industry, the works and goods production made up 126 percent, and the growth rate reached 118.4 percent as compared to last year’s similar period. In particular, a steady growth was observed in production of cement – 112 percent; nonmetallic building materials – 135.8 percent; claydite and reinforced concrete frames – 110.4 and 112 percent, respectively. As for the Ministry of Textile Industry, the total production rate reached 110.8 percent in the period under report with the growth rate – 105.1 percent, including production of cotton yarn and cotton fabrics – 114.8 and 111.8 percent, respectively; ready-made clothes and knitwear – 105.6 percent; silk fabric – 109.3 percent. Sales profit of textile products made up 11 million manats. Since the start of 2015, the production plan of the “Turkmenhaly” State Association enterprises has been implemented by 114.1 percent. The growth rate reached 115.5 percent against the same period of last year. In particular, the sectoral enterprises have woven more than 6,500 square meters of carpet products; the growth rate has come up to 108.3 percent. Reporting on fulfillment of the plan by the “Turkmenhimiya” State Concern, the Vice-Premier informed that the total production growth rate (works and goods) grew to 219.3 percent. According to the State Fishery Committee, the growth rate reached 101.7 percent in the period under review. Cabinet Deputy Chairman P. Taganov presented the two-month work results in the trade complex and backed up his report with the following indices achieved by the key sectoral agencies. Thus, as compared to the last year’s similar period, the growth rate of overall trade turnover of the Ministry of Trade and Foreign Economic Relations reached 121.2 percent, including retail turnover – 107.4 percent and wholesale turnover – 129.1 percent. The growth rate of income of the ministry’s enterprises made up 117.1, and assimilated investments – 108.9 percent. Over the period under report, the State Commodities and Raw Materials Exchange of Turkmenistan held 39 auctions and made 3,208 contracts, the sum total reached 16,737,000 thousand manats. The cost of import-export contracts made up 3, 167,000 thousand manats with building contracts valued at 12,509,900 thousand manats. As for the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the following growth rates were observed: services rendered – 131.9 percent, profits earned – 137.7 percent, and the foreign currency profit from services – 123 percent. Three exhibitions and four conferences were held in this period. The following production growth rates were achieved by the Industrialists and Entrepreneurs Union: industrial output – 121 percent; agricultural products – 165 percent. The volume of civil and erection works increased by 12 percent. The growth rates of trade turnover and services reached 151 and 142 percent, respectively. The Vice-Premier also reported on the preparations for an exhibition and a conference of the Industrialist and Entrepreneurs Union of Turkmenistan timed to the 7th anniversary of its establishment to be held on March 17-18. As informed, some 180 members of the Union, including representatives of domestic private companies specializing in different sectors of the national economy would take part in the exhibition to be held in the capital’s “Sergi Köşgi” Expo Center. Then, Cabinet Deputy Chairman S. Toilyev reported on the results of work done in the supervised branches of the social sector in the period under review. Thus, over January and February, 120 types of textbooks and teaching aids were prepared for publication, 38 of which were printed. Besides, electronic versions of textbooks published in 2012-2014 were sent to educational authorities of Ashgabat and velayats to be introduced into educational processes. Ashgabat city and regional rounds of the State Subject and Project Olympiads under the title “Altyn asyryn altyn zehinleri” were held in February. Since the start of the year, Turkmen schoolchildren have also participated in international intellectual contests and won 11 medals: 1 – gold, 5 – silver, 5 – bronze. This year, 21 postgraduate students have been admitted, 42 applicants for candidate degree and 9 doctoral candidates were nominated. In this year’s January and February, 32 national competitions in different sports were held; 17 mass sporting events were organized in the country. Turkmen athletes participated in 19 international tournaments abroad and won 45 medals: 5 – gold, 10 – silver, 30 – bronze medals. The Vice-Premier also in detail informed the head of state about the partnership with the Federal Republic of Germany in the field of education in the frames of humanitarian cooperation with world’s large research centers, international organizations and funds. In this context, 2015 cooperation plans were presented for the programs implemented jointly with the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the Pedagogical Exchange Service (PAD) and the German International Cooperation Society (GIZ). Then, Cabinet Deputy Chairman, Manager of the Presidential and Cabinet Administration Office Sh. Durdylyev focused on the outcomes of activity of the supervised sectors, as well as the works accomplished in the city of Ashgabat in the January-February period. On the results of the period under review, the volume of investments from all financing sources, assimilated by the Ashgabat city’s khyakimlik reached 145 percent. The index of investments expended from the centralized budget came up to 133.4 percent as compared to last year’s relevant period; the growth rate made up 126.1 percent. The volume of assimilated investments of the State Budget reached 143.3 percent. The growth rate was 102 percent as compared to the same period of 2014. As for the Ashgabat city’s khyakimlik, fulfillment of the plan for application of own funds reached 233.7 percent (12 times as much against last year’s indicator). Owing to special-purpose funds for the city improvement, the plan was fulfilled by 156.6 percent. The report of Cabinet Deputy Chairman S. Satlykov was focused on the two-month state of affairs in the transport and communications sector he is in charge. Over the period under report, the works and services plan of the transport-communications complex was executed by 108.7 percent; the growth rate made up 113.9 percent. The growth rates of works accomplished by the Ministry of Railway Transport reached 105.5 percent. The indicators in goods transportation and passenger transportation made up 100.1 percent and 101.3 percent, respectively. As informed, active renovation of internal railways and technical facilities is in progress. In particular, construction of the Atamyrat-Ymamnazar-Akina international railway is under way at an accelerated pace; a railway station in Balkanabat was constructed and put into operation. According to the Ministry of Motor Transport, the growth rate of services rendered reached 125.2 percent in this period. The growth rates of works executed by the Ministry of Communications in January and February of 2015 made up 107.5 percent. In this period, 103.2 thousand telephone points, including 94.8 thousand – cellular, 4.1 thousand – radio telephone, and 4.2 thousand – fixed-line telephone units were installed to satisfy the demands for telecommunications services in the country. The plan was 2.3 times as much overfulfilled. 464 kilometers of communication networks were built within the framework of the National Program for regions’ development. The growth rate of air services rendered by the “Turkmenhovayollary” State National Service reached 126.1 percent in January-February. The indicator for cargo and passenger transportation services made up 108.6 and 100.9 percent, respectively. The growth rate of works and services rendered by the State Sea and River Transport Service was 132.9 percent in the reporting period. As noted, the construction of the Turkmenabat-Farap railway bridge across the Amudarya River, the new airports in Ashgabat and Turkmenabat and the International Seaport in Turkmenbashi city is gathering pace. The two-month results of work accomplished by the supervised ministries and agencies in the period under review and fulfillment of the earlier presidential commissions were subject to the report of Cabinet Deputy Chairman M. Artykov. In particular, the growth rate of production and services of the Ministry of Building and Architecture reached 138.7 percent. Over the two-month period, the growth rate of production, works and services of the Ministry of Energy made up 139.3 percent, and the output of electric energy reached 103.7 percent. The growth rate of works and services of the Ministry of Communal Services was 110.2 percent. The growth indicator of the “Turkmenavtoyollary” State Concern was 103.2 percent. The report also included the information about the ongoing work on phased reconstruction of the national highways, such as Turkmenbashi-Farap, Ashgabat-Dashoguz, and the Ashgabat-Turkmenbashi high-speed highway, as well as construction of the Turkmenabat-Farap highway bridge across the Amudarya and other facilities. The report was also centered on the measures taken for building two 4-story 30-apartment buildings and two 4-story 40-apartment buildings of improved accommodation with a shop on the ground floor in the residential area Keshi of Ashgabat city. Summarizing the work outcomes, the head of state has emphasized that the two-month results testify to high rates of the national economy’s development. The GDP growth rates remain stable – 10.1 percent. In the period under review, the industrial growth in GDP breakdown came up to 12.7 percent, the building sector – 8.5 percent; the transport and communications sector – 6.8 percent. Other sectors of the national economy develop rapidly as well. The large-scale construction of different facilities is well under way in the country. Most of the facilities estimated at US $50 billion are social-purpose objects. At the same time, the President of Turkmenistan has noted that despite all these, there are still unsettled issues in some sectors. Addressing to Vice-Premier B. Ereshov, the head of state stressed that the ministries and sectoral agencies answerable to him, in particular, the “Turkmenhimiya” State Concern, the State Fishery Committee, as well as the Ministry of Textile Industry (according to some indices) had failed to realize the targets. Having stressed that sectoral agencies of the fuel and energy complex, including the “Turkmengaz” and “Turkmennebit” State Concerns, the Turkmenbashi Refinery Complex do not meet the targets assigned on timely basis, the leader of nation has addressed critical remarks to Cabinet Deputy Chairman B. Hojamuhammedov responsible for the sector. Speaking to Vice-Premier Sh. Durdylyev, the President of Turkmenistan pointed out shortcomings in the work of building enterprises of the Ashgabat city’s khyakimlik. The head of state drew attention of Cabinet Deputy Chairman P. Taganov to the decline in foreign trade turnover, including the goods exported to foreign countries, and also the decrease in imports, having demanded to analyze their causes and take urgent measures for improving the situation. In this connection, President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov stressed the necessity of being aware of the processes ongoing in the world economy in order to evaluate how they influence the domestic economy. Speaking of this, the nation’s leader instructed to take all measures to increase exports, as well as to systematically encourage inflow of foreign currency to our country. Along with this, the head of state assigned the Cabinet Deputies Chairman, first of all, those, who are in charge of velayats, together with velayat khyakims to develop import-substituting production in the shortest possible space of time and hold the issue under constant control. Making emphasis on the adopted Ashgabat Development Program, the leader of nation noted that henceforth the Vice-Premiers entrusted to supervise Ashgabat’s etraps, would make reports on the work done at every Cabinet session. Touching upon the celebration of International Women’s Day, widely observed as an important occasion on March 8, the President of Turkmenistan highlighted the particular significance of the holiday celebrated at the time of nature’s awakening. As the head of state said, the Turkmen people at all times had shown respect to women and highly appreciated their merits. Nowadays, the tradition has been enriched with new content. Having emphasized that the Turkmen state would always have concern for women and create all necessary conditions for their happy life and wellbeing, the President of Turkmenistan warmly congratulated all our countrywomen - mothers, wives and daughters on the remarkable holiday - International Women’s Day and addressed the best wishes to them. Addressing the session participants, the head of state noted that given special merits of women in labor, upbringing of the younger generation, he had signed the Ukases “On decorating with state awards in honor of International Women’s Day”, “On conferring the “Ene Myahri” honorary title of Turkmenistan and “On moving the day off on the occasion of International Women’s Day”. In this connection, the leader of nation assigned Chairperson of Mejlis A. Nurberdyeva and Cabinet Deputy Chairperson M. Yazmuhammedova in a solemn atmosphere to present the state awards, keys to new apartments, as well as other valuable gifts to the women, honored with awards and honorary titles, and mothers of large families. Some other issues of state life were considered at the Cabinet session, and the appropriate resolutions were adopted.