On 17 June 2020, Ashgabat, representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection of Turkmenistan, Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Turkmenistan, Ministry of Finance and Economy of Turkmenistan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, Ministry of Health and Medical Industry of Turkmenistan, and the members representing the SARD III Project gathered at the Seventh Steering Committee Meeting organized within the framework of the European Union funded Project “Support to Further Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development in Turkmenistan – SARD III”. The event took place at the capital’s Yyldyz Hotel and it aimed at introducing the progress within the project and exchanging information and recommendations among involved counterparts.
Opening remarks were delivered by the Chairman of the SARD III Steering Committee Mr. Kerim Saparov, by the Programme Manager for Turkmenistan of the Delegation of the European Union to Kazakhstan Ms. Silvia Pietropaolo, by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the European Union in Turkmenistan Mr. Diego Ruiz Alonso.
Team Leader of the SARD III Project in Turkmenistan Mr. Arthur Russell highlighted that the Steering Committee was created in the framework of the European Union funded project “Support to Further Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development in Turkmenistan – SARD III”. “Its members include public institutions and SARD III representatives that work on the development of sustainable agriculture, rural development, and institutional support to the rural agro sector. The steering committee is an important tool for coordination between relevant stakeholders and the project team”, – said Mr. Russell.
In addition, the presentations were delivered by the SARD III specialists, who spoke about the current state and future plans of the SARD III project and its activities in Turkmenistan, including ongoing technical assistance to dairy, horticultural sectors, pieces of training and manuals developed for Turkmen experts and specialists on the best agricultural irrigation practices and methodologies, support to export promotion activities for Turkmen enterprises, support to local auditors and consultants. The participants of the Steering Committee highlighted the importance of the SARD III Project, gave their high rating to the actions taken by the project, and discussed the plans. The attendees have highly appreciated the project performance with Arthur Russell, Team Leader of the SARD III Project, sharing his very positive impressions of the project thus far. SARD III Steering Committee members discussed the next steps for implementing the SARD III activities and agreed on action points to be taken up by the SARD III Steering Committee members and all other stakeholders involved.
