CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

The country's construction industry is also important in terms of its potential to attract investment. Today, one can imagine Turkmenistan as a huge construction site with large-scale projects in process, the total cost of which exceeds billions of US dollars.  Industrial, social and cultural facilities are being  built.  Infrastructure projects are strongly supported.  It is not possible to enumerate all the construction projects here, therefore, I would like to speak about the two most significant projects.

One such strategically important project is the Kazakhstan–Turkmenistan–Iran transnational trunk railway. An opening ceremony for the  construction of the Uzen–Gyzylgaya–Bereket–Etret–Gorgan transactional trunk railway, attended by the President of Turkmenistan  and top-level Kazakhstan and Iranian officials, took place in the Balkan velayat of Turkmenistan on 1 December 2007.  A 697.5 km section of the Uzen–Gyzylgaya–Bereket–Etret–Gorgan transactional trunk railway, together with all auxiliary facilities, is planned to open in December 2011. The construction of this trunk railway will allow Turkmenistan and other participants to have direct access to the Persian gulf and significantly speed up the delivery of cargo via the shortest and safest route. AK Counsel also participated in the attraction of investment to this project.

The creation of the AVAZA tourist zone is the next most prominent and innovative project being implemented at the initiative of Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, the President of Turkmenistan. The first step in the implementation of this huge project was the decision to create a Committee on the AVAZA tourist zone in October 2008.

A number of preferences for foreign investors are provided in the national AVAZA tourist zone, such as a simplified visa regime for tourists and the faster issuance of visas to foreign specialists and workers, substantial tax exemptions, free certification services, the absence of market charges and others. AVAZA is a huge project for the creation of a health-resort city with all the necessary infrastructure as well as passenger and cargo transport. The purpose of the North-South international railway corridor, the Turkmenbashi–Farab highway and the reconstruction of the sea port in Turkmenbashi, among others, is to facilitate the delivery of cargo, required for the construction of the health-resort city on the sea shore. Additionally, a new international airport will be built in the tourist zone.

        The tourist zone is an economically viable project.  It is expected to yield significant profits and become one of the foundations of the national economy, as well as give a powerful impetus to the development of the region and the country.  Therefore, new economic approaches should be applied.  International practice shows that any modern resort is constructed with grants provided by the international tourist sector:  Companies make huge investments and use their vast experience to attract tourists and the State plays a regulatory role, creating the conditions for the development of this business sector.  Such a partnership was also facilitated through a number of presentations on the tourist zone, in which President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov  participated, as well as an advertising campaign in the leading foreign media.  Tourist zone advertisements will also be placed on the cars of one of the European rally teams participating in the Dakar Silk Way-2009 series rally, which will cross Turkmenistan, Russia and Kazakhstan.  In our opinion, it is an excellent marketing concept, as the rally will be covered by the international mass media and news agencies, such as Reuters, which has 473 subscriber channels in 103 countries, and CNNTV with 250 subscriber channels in 78 countries.

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