BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 4. Turkmenistan has assumed the acting chairmanship of the UN Group of Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs).
This was announced by Aida Kasymalieva, Permanent Representative of Kyrgyzstan to the UN in New York, in a post on X.
“Kyrgyzstan hands over the acting Chairmanship of the LLDC Group to Turkmenistan,” Kasymalieva wrote on social media.
Kasymalieva added that Kyrgyzstan would continue advancing the interests and priorities of landlocked developing countries at the UN Security Council.
The handover comes shortly after Turkmenistan hosted the Third UN Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDC3) in the Avaza National Tourist Zone, where leaders, ministers and international organizations adopted the Avaza Political Declaration and the Avaza Programme of Action for the next decade. The documents set priorities for improving transport connectivity, trade facilitation, infrastructure development, digital transformation and climate resilience across the world's 32 landlocked developing countries.
The Avaza conference, held from August 31 to September 2, brought together representatives from more than 100 countries, around 50 international organizations and private-sector participants. Turkmenistan chaired the conference, while Kyrgyzstan, as the acting chair of the LLDC Group at the time, participated in shaping the agenda that is now moving into the implementation phase.
By taking over the acting chairmanship of the LLDC Group, Turkmenistan assumes a coordinating role at a time when landlocked developing countries are seeking lower transit costs, stronger transport corridors and greater integration into global trade under the Avaza Programme of Action.
The development also aligns with Turkmenistan's recent emphasis on transport connectivity. On September 2, Chairman of the country's Halk Maslahaty (Parliament) Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov described building transport links between Asia and Europe as a key national priority, saying the country was ready to use its geographical position to expand transit corridors, strengthen the Trans-Caspian route and develop logistics infrastructure as part of its “Revival of the Great Silk Road” concept.
“Being at the strategic crossroads of Eurasian routes, our country is ready to use the advantages of its geographical location for the economic rapprochement of regions and continents, Asia and Europe. And this is the most important cultural task of building bridges of cooperation, mutual understanding and trust for the sake of common prosperity,” he said.
