This blog post was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

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Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

Part of UK in Turkey

12th March 2013

Turkmenistan – business opportunities

turkmenistan
International Turkmenistan Investment Forum

With which overseas market did UK bilateral trade in goods increase by 200% in 2012?

The answer is Turkmenistan, whose International Investment Forum I and colleagues including Ron Nash, UK co-Chair of the Turkmenistan UK Trade and Industry Council, attended in Istanbul on 5-6 March.

There is huge interest in Turkmenistan’s massive natural gas reserves (the 4th largest in the world) together with construction opportunities arising from the country’s major infrastructure programmes.

Because Turkey and Turkmenistan share close historical and cultural ties, as well as being in the same region, there are important bonds between the two countries.  More than 600 Turkish companies are engaged on 1,400 projects, including many major construction projects in the fields of transport, ports, health, education, housing and sport.  Some British companies are helping Turkish primary contractors in important projects e.g. the planned Olympics complex.  The British Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy, Charles Hendry, led a sports mission to Ashgabat in January to showcase British expertise and signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Sport.

Yellow UK-made JCB construction machinery is also visible on many construction sites in Ashgabat.

The British Embassy in Ashgabat and the Consulate-General in Istanbul are keen to help British Companies and Turkish Companies which want to work together in Turkmenistan.  Contact us on either of the links above if you need advice or help.

About Leigh Turner

I hope you find this blog interesting and, where appropriate, entertaining. My role in Vienna covers the relationship between Austria and the UK as well as the diverse work of…

I hope you find this blog interesting and, where appropriate, entertaining. My role in Vienna covers the relationship between Austria and the UK as well as the diverse work of the UN and other organisations; stories here will reflect that.

About me: I arrived in Vienna in August 2016 for my second posting in this wonderful city, having first served here in the mid-1980s. My previous job was as HM Consul-General and Director-General for Trade and Investment for Turkey, Central Asia and South Caucasus based in Istanbul.

Further back: I grew up in Nigeria, Exeter, Lesotho, Swaziland and Manchester before attending Cambridge University 1976-79. I worked in several government departments before joining the Foreign Office in 1983.

Keen to go to Africa and South America, I’ve had postings in Vienna (twice), Moscow, Bonn, Berlin, Kyiv and Istanbul, plus jobs in London ranging from the EU Budget to the British Overseas Territories.

2002-6 I was lucky enough to spend four years in Berlin running the house, looking after the children (born 1992 and 1994) and doing some writing and journalism.

To return to Vienna as ambassador is a privilege and a pleasure. I hope this blog reflects that.

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business investment Turkmenistan uk ukti

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