A small trade delegation visited Turkmenistan from 2-6 December. The trip was organized by East West Trade & Consulting.
The delegation was small in size, consisting of five companies, but brought with it a lot of expertise in the fields of greenhouse construction, refrigeration plants, and seed potatoes. Agrotech Didam, Dalsem, Geerlofs, HZPC and Kubo participated in the mission, which was led by former ambassador Peter van Leeuwen. From his hand the report below.
Peter van Leeuwen, served as a diplomat in several countries in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
The mission aimed to identify opportunities for cooperation in the various relevant areas with Turkmen partners.
In November 2023, three of the aforementioned companies were already part of the Dutch pavilion at the Agrotech Ashgabat fair. Among other things, this mission was intended as a follow-up activity to the fair participation.
In cooperation with the Turkmen Embassy in Brussels and the Turkmen authorities, an interesting and informative program had been drawn up. Several greenhouses were visited outside Ashgabat, growing tomatoes, strawberries, and even bananas, in addition to large-scale cold storage facilities and a potato farm.
Discussions with relevant Turkmen ministries and organizations such as the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Turkmenistan gave a good idea of Turkmen policy to further develop agriculture, and through matchmaking, views were exchanged with interested parties.
Turkmenistan is still a relatively unknown country in the field of international cooperation in agriculture. It is better known in the field of oil and gas, of which it has significant reserves. However, the country wants to open up more to bilateral trade relations and offers opportunities to do so. It is an emerging market, which is not easy to enter, but if properly prepared, certainly offers openings.