Bahrain, Turkmenistan highlight partnerships in joint communique

Ashgabat, Mar. 19 (BNA): Upon an invitation from His Excellency the President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa made a three-day official visit to the brotherly republic on March 17-19. Based on His Majesty’s keenness on consolidating friendship and cooperation in all areas with Turkmenistan, a high-level delegation including Their Royal Highnesses, ministers, senior officials and business leaders, accompanied His Majesty the King. The amicable official talks covered various issues pertaining to bilateral cooperation in various fields. A Joint Communique was issued affirming the two governments' aspiration to develop bilateral friendship and cooperation and to build lasting partnerships. The two countries issued a final communique that highlighted the following: 1. His Excellency the President of Turkmenistan conferred on His Majesty the King the “Neutrality Order”, Turkmenistan’s highest order, in recognition of His Majesty’s efforts to achieve peace, global development, insightful vision for coexistence and tolerance as humanitarian, ethical, political and legal duties that are a fundamental principle in the Kingdom’s foreign policy. The Order also recognizes His Majesty the King's keenness on promoting global dialogue, shunning extremism and hate ideologies, spreading the values of peaceful coexistence and fighting terrorism and extremism. This keenness was linked to the establishment of a global center for peaceful coexistence, to spread the culture of coexistence, promote global dialogue and unite views under the umbrella of peace and humanity in the world. 2. The leaders of the two countries view with great optimism the future of bilateral relations that are based on a strong foundation of common concepts and interests. The visit reaffirms the deep ties between the two brotherly countries and the common desire to develop them in all fields, build lasting partnerships, and promote comprehensive development in the two countries. 3. His Majesty the King congratulated His Excellency the President on his personal and the esteemed Government's commitment to continue the balanced foreign policy based on the principles of neutrality, establishing balanced relations with all countries and respecting the sovereignty of each country. His Majesty the King stressed the support of the Kingdom of Bahrain of the neutrality model adopted by Turkmenistan based on the lofty principles of the United Nations, and congratulated Turkmenistan on the 15th anniversary of the international recognition of the neutrality of Turkmenistan, which the Kingdom of Bahrain has supported since 1995. 4. The two sides stressed the clear harmony between the foreign policy approaches of the two countries based on global credibility and which call for reason and dialogue, achieving world peace, developing international cultural relations and promoting mutual trust among all peoples. 5. The two sides stressed that Bahrain and Turkmenistan are each a leading regional model in reform and development and that there are investment opportunities available in both countries. This requires the continuous work of the two parties to explore opportunities for enhancing cooperation, especially in the fields of trade, industry, technology and culture and to boost investment opportunities. 6. The two sides stressed the keenness of the business community and the private institutions in each country to cooperate, explore the investment opportunities available in each country and enter into various partnerships in order to increase investments in the Kingdom of Bahrain and Turkmenistan. 7. The two sides stressed keenness to cooperate in the fields of energy, gas and mineral wealth, and to establish strong relations between the financial and banking institutions and the insurance sector, as well as in the field of agriculture, food industries and other fields to serve common interests and achieve the aspirations of the two countries and their peoples. 8. Turkmenistan welcomed the transformation of Bahrain into a regional hub for financial technology, innovation and entrepreneurship by establishing the Bahrain FinTech Bay in partnership with the public and private sectors. Bahrain welcomed cooperation with Turkmenistan in this field. 9. The two sides pointed to the importance of cooperation in the field of e-government and the exchange of experiences to advance society in each country and to meet global current and future challenges. 10. The two sides have shared the efforts exerted to strengthen the relations between the Central Bank of Bahrain and the Central Bank of Turkmenistan, which will contribute to deepening economic, trade and investment relations. 11. The two sides reaffirmed their keenness on boosting cooperation in the areas of aviation services and accelerating the completion of their agreement for aviation services and its associated memorandum of understanding (MoU). 12. The two sides affirmed their strong desire to build bridges of cultural and civilizational cooperation and interaction between the two brotherly peoples and further cooperation in the fields of youth, sports, and culture as well as enhance cooperation in the tourism sector, considered a strategic choice for both countries. 13. Each Party is committed itself to combating international terrorism, extremism, transnational organised crime and cooperation in cybersecurity.