Policy paper

UK–Turkmenistan development partnership summary, March 2024

Published 27 March 2024

Introduction

The International Development White Paper sets out a re-energised agenda for the UK working with partners to accelerate progress on eliminating extreme poverty, tackling climate change and biodiversity loss, and accelerating progress on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. In a contested world, where ODA alone will not be enough, achieving the vision as set out in the SDGs requires a radical rethink in our approach to international development. The White Paper sets out how our partnerships are central to this approach. These are founded on mutual respect, with an emphasis on country ownership, accountability, transparency and common values. This country development partnership summary details how the approach detailed in the White Paper will be put into practice with Turkmenistan.

Country context

Turkmenistan borders Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Iran, Afghanistan, and to the west of the country, the Caspian Sea. The country has abundant natural resources of gas and oil deposits. It has a population of 5 million, with more than 50% under 30 years old^{[footnote 1]}. Turkmenistan graduated to upper middle income country status in 2012, however, remains in the early stages of transition. The economy is mostly under state control and focussed on hydrocarbon exports, mainly natural gas.  Economic data including for inflation, poverty or unemployment varies significantly between official government figures and international organisations^{[footnote 2]}. Strict foreign currency controls skew markets and restrict use of established economic levers.

Turkmenistan has the world’s fourth-largest natural gas reserves. According to government data, hydrocarbons and oil products made up about 83% of all exports in 2021; natural gas alone reportedly comprised 57% of exports. China is the largest market for Turkmen gas, with exports reportedly worth more than $9.3 billion in 2022^{[footnote 3]}. Reliance on China risks economic vulnerability and plans are for exports to grow in the coming years.  Income from hydrocarbon exports effectively underwrites the economy and limits incentives for change. In addition to cotton and natural gas, the country is rich in petroleum, sulphur, iodine, salt, bentonite clays, limestone, gypsum, and cement - all potential inputs to the chemical and construction industries.

The country achieved independence following the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. World Bank indices suggest very low scores on the quality of governance^{[footnote 4]}, especially on the dimensions of Rule of Law, Control of Corruption, and Voice and Accountability. The public sector plays a dominant role in economic activity. Turkmenistan is 80% desert and is one of countries in the region most vulnerable to climate change through: rising temperatures, water shortages and extreme weather conditions, with the potential to reduce crop yields leading to food shortages and unemployment in rural areas. Turkmenistan is a globally significant methane emitter. NASA reports revealed that 25% of the world’s so-called ‘super-emitters’ are in Turkmenistan’s Balkan province on the Caspian coast^{[footnote 5]}. International Energy Agency (IEA) monitoring of the world’s 10 major oil and gas producing countries ranks Turkmenistan as the fourth highest of methane polluter, after Russia, the US, and Iran^{[footnote 6]}.

Although Turkmenistan is a signatory to most of the international human rights instruments, it remains at the bottom of the most international indices^{[footnote 7]}. Legislation guarantees full legal equality but women and girls continue to experience discrimination due to cultural biases and weak enforcement of laws.   

Opening the economy, improving the business regulatory environment, accelerating the privatization of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), and investing more heavily in human capital would be vital to boosting private sector development and achieving medium and long-term national development goals.

Why and how: the UK’s development offer with Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan matters to the UK in our efforts to tackle climate change, and to foster an open and stable international order. 

Our priority areas of focus on development include:

Climate change

through our efforts to mobilise the international community, climate change discourse in the country has advanced.  We co-chair the Climate Change Donor Forum.  We have engaged the government on methane pollution, highlighting this in our advocacy and public diplomacy work.  Embassy-led climate advocacy has successfully engaged Turkmen youth, gaining United National Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) recognition.  Turkmenistan lacks an adequate national inventory of greenhouse gas emissions, in partnership with UNDP we support work with the government to update their inventory.

Openness, justice and equality

With our financial support and government engagement, Turkmenistan conducted its first-ever national survey on gender-based violence in 2020 and published its results in 2022. The survey revealed that 1 in 6 women in Turkmenistan, aged 18-59, had experienced some form of abuse by an intimate partner, and 1 in 8, had been subjected to physical and/or sexual violence^{[footnote 8]}. Our partnership with UNFPA supports their work to prevent violence against women and girls and influences the Turkmen Government to implement its National Action Plan on Gender Equality.  Advocacy for freedoms of women and girls has been a centrepiece of our public diplomacy work. Despite our small size, we also co-chair the Gender Donor Forum, leveraging our diplomatic influence.

Key programmes

International Programmes (ODA) directed to greenhouse gas emission inventory work with UNDP and Magna Carta Fund to empower women and girls in Turkmenistan with UNFPA. 

UNFPA Turkmenistan receive funding from a regional CSSF project to tackle gender-based violence (GBV) in Central Asia.

Turkmenistan is in scope for 2 key regional ODA programmes:

• Climate, Energy and Water Security for Central Asia region (CEW-CA)
  • duration: 2024 to 2030 *   expected outcome: improve Central Asia’s resilience and sovereignty by delivering low carbon and climate resilient growth across the region, through strengthened regional cooperation.
• UK-Central Asia Green Inclusive Growth Fund:
  • duration: 2024 to 2029
  • expected outcome: improved SME capacity and increased flow of green investment finance in Central Asia.

Who we work with

The United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UN Resident Coordinator’s Office, the Organisation for Co-operation and Security in Europe (OSCE), US and EU missions.  We co-chair a development partners group with UNDP on climate change and with UNFPA on gender.  We sit on the overall UN Coordination Group. We work with Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Agriculture and Environment Protection, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Economy and Finance, Ministry of Defence, State Water Management Committee, Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Interior.  We also support the respective work in Turkmenistan of other HMG departments, such as the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Department of Business and Trade (DBT).

Links

• Turkmenistan travel advice
• Turkmenistan DevTracker Page

1. Britannica 2019 ↩

2. Official figures puts real GDP growth at 6.2% in 2022 ; IMF figures put growth at 1.8% in the same year. ↩

3. Reuters (January 2023) ↩

4. World Bank WGI (2022) ↩

5. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/methane-super-emitters-mapped-by-nasa-s-new-earth-space-mission ↩

6. https://www.iea.org/reports/global-methane-tracker-2023/overview ↩

7. Freedom House 2023 ↩

8. National survey on issues facing women in Turkmenistan ↩