On December 26, President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov held a joint pre-New Year session of the Cabinet of Ministers and the State Security Council with the participation of velayat khaykims. During the session, the President of Turkmenistan gave a brief summary of the results of works accomplished during the current year. The head of state noted that at present, the global economy was going through a serious crisis. According to the International Monetary Fund, the growth rates of the economies in the majority of the developing countries decreased, and still remained quite low. Consequently, given the ongoing changes, we took necessary actions to ensure timely implementation of the adopted programs and prevent the decline in the living standards of our people. The IMF delegation, that recently visited Turkmenistan, welcomed the ongoing work in that direction, having confirmed the correctness of the adopted measures and chosen path, the head of state said. Virtually, all the plans outlined for 2016 were accomplished; a redrafted version of the Constitution of our independent country was adopted; and the balanced State Budget for the next year was approved. The head of state Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov noted that all social benefits for the people were reserved during the current year. From the next year, the salaries, pensions, benefits and student scholarships will be increased by 10%.; trouble-free is in-time payment of salaries. 202 facilities (over US $5 billion total budget) have been commissioned this year. They include: the Ashgabat International Airport; the first stage of the Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Tajikistan railway that was built on our own. Construction keeps going of the international Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India gas pipeline, a high-capacity power plant in Lebap velayat, and the campus of the Oguzkhan Engineering and Technology University. Among the new construction objects of the year were the residential houses with the total area of over 1,700,000 square meters, numerous schools and pre-school facilities, medical institutions and hotels in the “Avaza” National Tourist Zone. Summing up the international activity in the current year, President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov noted that our country’s government delegation made 8 visits to foreign countries and 10 visits by the heads of foreign states and governments were made to Turkmenistan; the President of Turkmenistan held numerous meetings with the official representatives of foreign countries and international organizations. The head of state stressed that in the outgoing year, our neutral country was elected as Vice-Chairman of the UN General Assembly for the fifth time, and also to the three commissions of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). The Turkmen capital hosted the high-level Global Sustainable Transport Conference that resulted in adopting of the Ashgabat Declaration. Furthermore, recently Turkmenistan has been entrusted with chairmanship in the Energy Charter Conference-2017. Neutral Turkmenistan greatly contributes to the consolidation of peace and stability and promotion of good-neighborly relations and mutuality-based cooperation in the region. While both negative and positive conditions of political and economic nature marked the outgoing year, and the year happened to be quite difficult for all countries, we expect the GDP growth rate to be quite high - 6.2 percent to be more exact. Summing up and assessing the results of the current year, we can confidently state that despite the difficulties, the year 2016 was, on the whole, one of the most beneficial years for our independent Motherland and the native people, the President of Turkmenistan emphasized. Pending the subject, the head of state reminded the participants of the session that next year our country would host the two major events – the elections of the President of Turkmenistan and V Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games. Both are to be held at a better and higher level in terms of organization and content. The President of the country noted that following the by-now good tradition to give to every year a motto that helps us move towards the goals set, and in view of the upcoming events, offered to name 2017 as the Year of Health and Inspiration. The head of state ordered to announce a competition for designing the logotype of the upcoming year and promulgate the best logotype in the press. The President of Turkmenistan ordered to ensure and control observance of law and order during the New Year’s holidays and festive events. Every provincial, municipal and district administration must appoint an official on duty for that period. It is essential to ensure the uninterrupted and proper functioning of all public services, energy and water supply, work of medical institutions, passenger transport and shops, the head of state said. The head of state voiced his decision, in connection with the New Year’s holiday to move the day off from January 1 to – January 2 (Monday), and signed the relevant Ukase. At the joint session of the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan and the State Security Council, the members of the Government and session participants delivered their reports focused mainly on such issues, as the measures to ensure abundance of goods and price stability, preparations to the New Year’s celebrations and concerts, improvement of the country’s financial and economic system, the state of affairs in various sectors of the economy, and planning the activities for pursuing the foreign policy in 2017. The heads of military and law enforcement authorities informed the President on the implementation progress of the military reform and on adherence to the principles of ensuring security and sustainable development of our independent country. At the session, the President of Turkmenistan, Supreme Commander-in-Chief, of the Armed Forces of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov signed a Resolution, having prescribed to the State Migration Service to ensure implementation of the measures related to our country’s acceding to the ICAO Public Key Directory. Then, the heads of velayat administrations reported on the local activities, the implementation of seasonal agricultural works and the National Rural Development Program, and the preparations for the New Year’s events. At the joint session of the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan and the State Security Council, several other issues of the public life were also discussed and the relevant decisions were adopted.