In an interview to CentralAsia.news, Yuri Aronsky, an economist, scientist, chairman of the Union of Economists of Turkmenistan, representative of the Coordinating Council of the International Union of Economists, an expert and observer, spoke about the stability in the development of the national economy of Turkmenistan.
Decrease in imports vs increase in exports
Various international information sources and world agencies note the successful growth of the Turkmen economy in recent years. Gross external debt was about 8% of GDP at the end of 2021, it was almost entirely sovereign and mostly project-related. And the debt of the general government sector for the same period decreased to 11,5% of GDP due to large payments on external loans. Thus last year, a large loan related to the Chinese gas purchase agreement was fully repaid on schedule.
Special programs and timely measures taken by Turkmenistan to reduce imports and increase exports as part of a strategy to strengthen the national economy and reduce the impact of global financial crises have made it possible to increase production, achieve sustainability of the economic complex and stability in the social sphere.
A record for gas production
In 2021, the national GDP growth rate reached 6,2%, the volume of foreign trade turnover — 15.1 billion US dollars, which is significantly better than the results of 2020, the difference was 33,6%.
In 2021 Turkmenistan showed a record for gas production in the amount of 83 billion 772.9 million cubic meters — this is the highest figure for the thirty years of state independence. Gas production reached 120,1%, while export supplies increased by 34,8%. The increase in gas production undoubtedly contributed to a further acceleration of economic growth.
At the end of 2021, all sectors of the economy, both the public and private sectors demonstrated serious growth.
Expansion of popular products
A very significant increase was simultaneously shown by foreign trade indicators with almost all countries. For example, the volume of deliveries of Turkmen products to the EU has significantly increased. Turkmenistan increased export deliveries by 63% to 440 million euros, compared to the same period in 2020. The main goods exported from Turkmenistan to the EU were textiles, mineral fertilizers and products of the chemical industry.
The country achieved good results in the innovative economy and the development of advanced technologies. Last year, the production of a number of new varieties of petrochemical products was mastered in oil refining. These include A-1 Jet fuel, Euro-6 grade A-98 gasoline, Turkmenoil Advance 5W-40 semi-synthetic lubricating oil, mother-of-pearl and aluminum-coated polypropylene film, fuel for sea and river vessels, and much more.
Contribution of the private sector
Small and medium-sized private enterprises succeeded within innovative approaches. Thanks to the «Startup Ecosystem» programs, held annually in the country with the coordination and information and methodological support of national public organizations of the economic block — the Union of Entrepreneurs and Industrialists and the Union of Economists of Turkmenistan, a number of selected business companies, which are called mentoring, found and attracted young entrepreneurs with innovative ideas, and also held a number of mandatory events with them, in particularly the academy, training, incubation, acceleration and competitions.
Assistance was also provided in finding business investors and, as a result, innovative products or services entered the market and found their consumers.
Turkmenistan and the WTO
The other day, Turkmenistan received a new status of a country «joining the World Trade Organization», it comes after the status of an «observer». In accordance with the rules of procedures of this international organization, a special Working Group on Turkmenistan’s accession to the WTO was established. All this strengthens the realization of the geopolitical and economic opportunities of Turkmenistan.
The Turkmen economy got the necessary stability and maturity over the years of independence. Today, according to specialized economists, it is worth thinking about the accelerated implementation of the main goals in long-term plans, as in any economy in the world. These are the improvement of the level of well-being of the people through digitalization and the latest innovative and eco-friendly approaches.
