On October 27, a regular meeting of authorized representatives from the Caspian littoral states began at the Caspian Sea Institute in Ashgabat. Participants of the meeting are discussing a draft intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the sphere of marine scientific research, as reported on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan.
The meeting in Ashgabat aims to strengthen the legal framework for conducting scientific research in the Caspian Sea. The document under discussion is being developed based on an international initiative put forward by the National Leader of the Turkmen people, Chairman of the Halk Maslahaty of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov during the Fifth Caspian Summit held in Aktau in August 2018. At that time, the National Leader proposed the creation of a systematic platform for five-party joint scientific research.
Previous rounds of negotiations on this draft confirmed the interest of all littoral states in developing common approaches. The current meeting is expected to facilitate further progress in finalizing the remaining provisions of the draft agreement.
The work of the authorized representatives will conclude on October 28.
