TASHKENT (TCA) — A briefing was held in Uzbekistan on January 29 to mark the opening of the Centre for Public Diplomacy of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Tashkent.

The SCO comprises eight member states: China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

SCO Deputy Secretary-General Nurlan Akkoshkarov delivered opening remarks on behalf of SCO Secretary-General Vladimir Norov.

Speaking at the briefing, Uzbek Senator and Head of the Public Diplomacy Centre Rakhmatulla Nazarov said that the centre would be working towards several goals, such as stronger mutual trust and neighbourliness, a broader inter-ethnic and inter-civilisational dialogue as well as cultural and humanitarian ties with the SCO countries. The centre will also create conditions for friendly interaction between the SCO countries’ civil society institutions (in particular, youth and women’s organisations), promote information cooperation between the SCO countries, including by creating information resources and encouraging interaction with media outlets, as well as use public diplomacy instruments to bring the SCO nations closer together and strengthen the Shanghai spirit.

A presentation of the Public Diplomacy Centre was held as part of the briefing to inform the audience about the centre’s goals, spheres of activity and planned events.

Under the roadmap on the centre’s operations in 2019, it will hold over 30 events to develop and strengthen interaction with the governmental and non-governmental organisations of the SCO member states, observer countries and dialogue partners. The centre will also organise joint events, festivals, fairs, folk and handicraft exhibitions and promote interaction to preserve the cultural heritage of the Silk Road.

ASHGABAT (TCA) — Turkmenistan says it will privatize much of the state-owned transport system and gradually end funding for the nation’s Academy of Sciences as it looks to bolster its struggling economy and save money amid a continuing slump in its energy sector, RFE/RL reports.

A decree published on January 30 by President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov said the privatization process was “designed to help strengthen the competitiveness of the national economy,” increase investment, and strengthen small and medium-sized businesses.

The president gave the Justice Ministry three months to propose legislation to transform the transport industry, but he did not indicate whether foreign companies would be able to invest in the privatized sector.

Meanwhile, the government also said state funding for the Academy of Sciences will be phased out over three years and that the organization will be streamlined.

Berdymukhammedov, 61, has ruled the gas-rich former Soviet republic since his autocratic predecessor, Saparmurat Niyazov, died in December 2006. Government critics and human rights groups say he has suppressed dissent and made few changes in the restrictive country since he came to power.

Turkmenistan’s manat currency has lost a fifth of its value after the collapse of hydrocarbon prices in 2014, while Russian energy giant Gazprom’s decision to cease purchasing Turkmen gas at the start of 2016 further hurt the economy.

The move left Turkmenistan even more reliant on demand from China, which last year imported 35 billion cubic meters of Turkmen gas via the Central Asia-China pipeline.

A year ago, Berdymukhammedov ended a quarter-century-long practice of providing free natural gas, electricity, and water to residents in Turkmenistan in efforts to save money.

KABUL (TCA) — An official of the Taliban militant group, which now reportedly controls nearly half of Afghanistan, says the militant group is not seeking to rule Afghanistan alone in any future government structure and wants to co-exist with current institutions, RFE/RL reported.

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BISHKEK (TCA) — This year’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), released by Transparency International on January 29, paints a bleak picture of anti-corruption efforts in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. In a region where only one country scores over 50 out of 100 and all other countries score 45 or less out of 100 on the index, there has been “very little progress” in combatting corruption over several years, the watchdog says.

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DUSHANBE (TCA) — United States Chargé d’Affaires Kevin Covert and General-Colonel Saimumin Yatimov, the Chairman of the State Committee of National Security of Tajikistan, on January 29 attended the handover ceremony of $3.8 million in security assistance equipment provided to the Border Guard Forces under the State Committee of National Security of the Republic of Tajikistan. The ground sensor radar system provides the Border Guard Forces with the capability to persistently monitor portions of their border that would otherwise remain unobserved by routine patrols. This capability is particularly advantageous in areas where long distances between outposts in harsh terrain make persistent patrolling challenging, the US Embassy in Dushanbe said in a press release.

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ASTANA (TCA) — Renewable power generation is set to play a greater role in Kazakhstan’s energy mix as a result of financing led by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for the construction of a new 50MW solar power plant in the south of the country, the Bank said on January 29.

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