Turkmenistan

Capital: Ashgabat
Population: 5.8 million (2018) World Bank
Currency: Turkmenistan Manat (TMT)
Time: UTC+5 (TMT)

Snapshot

  • Located in Central Asia and holding the world’s fourth largest natural gas reserves, Turkmenistan plays an important role as energy supplier to and beyond its region and has a potential to become a regional transport hub.
  • Turkmenistan also has significant solar and wind energy potential which will gradually replace its fossil fuel use in coming decades.

Key Sectors

Energy

  • The energy sector is the main driver of the Turkmen economy and is of commercial interest to both international energy companies and the service supply chain.  Southern gas corridor is a potential conduit for Turkmen gas to reach European markets in the future.
  • There are also plans to increase renewable energy output by building hydrogen, solar and wind energy plants.
  • Some parts of the energy infrastructure need modernisation, new equipment and parts. There are also commercial opportunities in providing engineering solutions for methane and CO2 capture and energy efficiency areas.

Chemicals

  • Turkmenistan also produces chemicals using natural gas as feedstock.  The government is planning to grow this sector in coming years, doubling its output of fertilisers, polymers and other chemicals. There are opportunities for UK engineering and construction companies to take part in those projects involving UK Export Finance guarantee.

Agriculture

  • Apart from its cotton and wheat output, Turkmenistan is also rapidly growing its exports of fruits and vegetables. There are opportunities for UK agri-tech companies to help develop the agricultural sector of Turkmenistan, in animal science, precision agriculture and water economy spheres.

Professional Services

  • Turkmenistan has applied to become a WTO member. There are several opportunities to provide capacity development and training services to the government and SMEs in this sphere.