On 19 November, Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov received Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who arrived in Ashgabat on an official visit.
The sides discussed priority areas of cooperation, in particular the trade and economic sphere, fuel and energy sphere as well as education, the Turkmen State News Agency (TDH) said. The head of state welcomed the decision of the Petronas University of Technology to increase a quota for Turkmen students from 10 to 15 people.
At the end of talks the sides signed an agreement on avoidance of double taxation and tax evasion.
It should be recalled that Malaysia”s national company Petronas signed a 25-year PSA with Turkmenistan in 1996 for exploration and development of Block-1 contract territory which covers Makhtumkuli, Ovez and Diyarbekir offshore fields.
The company”s total investments in Turkmenistan exceed US $ 1,8 billion. Petronas is expected to commission Kiyanly gas-storage terminal in 2010 within the framework of joint projects. It is also expected that the company will soon complete the construction of a plant to assemble sea platforms and other engineering constructions.
