Turkmenistan Builds Ties with Southeast Asia

Turkmenistan is expanding engagement with Southeast Asia through talks with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and new energy and tourism initiatives with Malaysia. Deputy Foreign Minister Ahmet Gurbanov visited Jakarta on July 14 for meetings with ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn and Indonesian officials. Gurbanov expressed Turkmenistan’s interest in expanding cooperation with ASEAN in trade, transport, energy, education, tourism, and other fields, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The envoy also met Dyah Roro Esti Widya Putri, Indonesia’s deputy trade minister, on the same day for discussions about trade as well as strengthening transport and logistics links. Currently, trade between Turkmenistan and countries in Southeast Asia is relatively modest. China is the top buyer of natural gas from the Central Asian country’s vast reserves. Turkey, Russia, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan also have longstanding trade ties with Turkmenistan, whose tight internal controls make it one of the most isolated nations in the world. Malaysia’s state-owned oil and gas company Petronas, which has operated in Turkmenistan since 1996, said last month that it had entered into new agreements there, “deepening its presence in the Caspian Sea and expanding its upstream portfolio in the country.” The production-sharing deals cover two offshore blocks and coincided with a visit to Turkmenistan by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. This week, he responded to a question in the Malaysian parliament about the impact of Strait of Hormuz shipping disruptions on the country’s political and economic stability, and what measures were being taken to offset the effects. In his response, Ibrahim said exploration and drilling work at the Turkmen gas blocks secured in the deal involving Petronas would begin as early as December, Malaysian newspaper New Straits Times reported this week. "This is among the fastest that has ever happened. Normally the expectation is between one-and-a-half and two years before drilling begins," the New Straits Times quoted Ibrahim as saying. In another initiative, tourism officials from Malaysia and Turkmenistan met in Ashgabat this week to exchange ideas and talk about the “steady growth” of interest among Turkmen citizens in traveling to Southeast Asia, state media in Turkmenistan reported. Nor Shazli Azmi, director of Tourism Malaysia’s office in Almaty, said 10,750 visitors from Turkmenistan traveled to Malaysia in 2025, up 42.5% from the previous year. Turkmen tourism officials said travel from Malaysia to Turkmenistan was also increasing. Turkmenistan Airlines launched direct flights between Ashgabat and Kuala Lumpur in February 2024.