On Monday, 20 July 2026, the newly appointed Resident Coordinator of the United Nations in Turkmenistan, Xiaojun Grace Wang, presented her credentials to President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov.
At the beginning of the meeting, Xiaojun Grace Wang conveyed greetings from UN Secretary-General António Guterres to the President and the National Leader of Turkmenistan.
The President expressed his best wishes to António Guterres, emphasizing that Turkmenistan, whose status of permanent neutrality has been recognized three times by the UN, consistently develops relations with states across the globe and authoritative international organizations.
The Head of State praised the effectiveness of cooperation between Turkmenistan and the UN, pointing out that interaction with the UN and its specialized agencies remains one of the key priorities of Turkmenistan’s foreign policy. In this context, the role of the Strategic Advisory Council “Turkmenistan – United Nations” was highlighted. The Council serves as an important platform for discussing cooperation with the UN in areas such as peace and security, economy, sustainable development, education, climate change, and humanitarian issues.
As Berdimuhamedov noted, over the years of long-standing partnership based on country programs, joint projects aimed at achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the country have been successfully implemented and continue to be carried out.
Currently, cooperation is conducted within the framework of the Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework between the Government of Turkmenistan and the UN for 2026–2030. This document confirms the consistent and long-term nature of the country’s relationship with the UN, stated the Head of State, emphasizing that Turkmenistan highly values the constructive role of the UN in addressing pressing issues on the international agenda.
As is known, the global community currently pays special attention to climate change issues and mitigating its negative consequences. In this context, environmental protection is one of the key priorities of the socio-economic transformations taking place in Turkmenistan.
In turn, the UN Resident Coordinator stressed that it is a great honor for her to represent the Organization in Turkmenistan, assuring that she will make every effort to further develop an effective partnership.
At the conclusion of the meeting, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov expressed confidence that Ms. Xiaojun Grace Wang will make a significant contribution to strengthening cooperation between Turkmenistan and the UN, as well as advancing the SDGs. /// nCa, 21 July 2026