OREANDA-NEWS. June 14, 2011. President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov received Minister of Science and Education of the Russian Federation Andrey Fursenko, who had arrived in the Turkmen capital to participate in the Turkmen-Russian Science and Innovation Forum “Innovations, New Technologies and Energy Efficiency Issues”.

Expressing gratitude for the opportunity of a personal meeting, the head of the RF Ministry of Science and Education conveyed the best wishes from RF President Dmitriy Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to the leader of the Turkmen state and the wishes of the wellbeing to the Turkmen people.

Cordially greeting the guest and expressing the best wishes to the top leadership of the Russian Federation, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov focused with satisfaction on the fruitful character of intergovernmental Turkmen-Russian relations that gave priority to the scientific and education sectors. The Turkmen leader emphasized that Turkmenistan intended to speed up mutually advantageous partnerships that had the great prospects for intensification, a symbol of which was the Turkmen-Russian Science and Innovation Forum, which had brought together leading specialists and practitioners of the two countries in Ashgabat these days.

Briefing on the strategy for promoting the national education system and the measures taken to improve its quality and standards, the Turkmen leader focused on the importance of employing new opportunities opened up in this sphere through advanced information technologies. In the higher education sector paramount attention was paid to collaboration between higher educational institutions and economic sectors, the tasks of economic diversification and encouragement of youth involvement in research activity. In this context the Turkmen leader noted that today Turkmenistan was keenly interested in best practices accumulated in this sphere by different countries, including Russia which was known all over the world for outstanding scientific schools and educational centres.

In his turn, Minister A. Fursenko focused on the important role of humanitarian contacts in furthering effective relationships and expressed belief that the existing rich experience of Turkmen-Russian partnerships in the scientific and education sectors, its positive results and intellectual potential of the two countries would enable to reach a new level of collaboration.

During the meeting the Turkmen leader and his guest exchanged views on priority vectors of cooperation in the field of higher vocational education and training of highly qualified specialists for various sectors of Turkmen economy, implementation of joint projects in such spheres of mutual interest as oil and gas processing, biotechnology, medicine and health care, etc. A focus of the conversation was promotion of science and innovative and technological policy, scientific personnel training, academic exchanges and expansion of cooperation in the field of scientific research, exchange of information and scientific and technological advances and innovations.

In conclusion President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and RF Minister of Science and Education A. Fursenko called for intensifying the fruitful dialogue between Turkmenistan and Russia in the scientific and education sectors.

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Turkmenistan Aleksandr Blokhin attended the meeting.