러시아ㆍ유라시아

In the economic sphere, the Turkmen government has taken initial steps in a reform process designed to foster private sector development, with the aim to increase the private sector share of non-oil and gas GDP to 70 per cent by 2020. Following the recent unification of the exchange rate, the government has introduced a new foreign investment law, lifted the ban on international banking operations of commercial banks and started to liberalise a small number of controlled prices. These are positive steps. However, much more remains to be done to establish the basis for market-oriented economic development.

Since the adoption of the last country strategy Turkmenistan has experienced double-digit economic growth supported by very high world commodity prices. The global financial crisis has had virtually no direct impact on financial institutions, as the banking system is dominated by state owned banks that are not integrated in the global financial system. Both foreign direct investment and the economy as a whole are focused on the hydrocarbon sector.

The government is addressing the massive infrastructure investment requirements outside of the major cities since 2008 through the "Modern Rural Development Programme". This is a major investment programme in health, education, municipal services and agricultural development. In the hydrocarbon sector, there remain substantial investment needs in all areas, in particular for pipeline construction and start the exploitation of the South Yolotan oil filed which requires state of the art drilling and processing technology. Turkmenistan has limited external sources of finance and mostly relies on internal financial sources, particularly through state funds.