On March 13, 2024, a meeting was held at the State Customs Service of Turkmenistan with the delegation of the International Trade Center (ITC). The delegation was headed by Elena Butrimova, head of the Eastern Europe and Central Asia department of the ITC.

During the meeting, the parties discussed aspects of interaction between ITC and the State Customs Service of Turkmenistan (SCTS) within the framework of ongoing projects. Since 2020, as part of the Ready4Trade Central Asia initiative, funded by the European Union, ITC has been supporting Turkmenistan in the development of a trade facilitation information portal, with input from Turkmenistan Customs.

The new project "Trade Sustainability and Integration", also funded by the EU, aims to integrate Turkmenistan's small and medium-sized enterprises into international trade. One of the components of the new project “Improving the ecosystem for promoting investment and developing e-commerce” will be launched in June 2024, within the framework of which it is planned to assist in the digitalization of customs procedures.

In this context, the ITC delegation was informed about the activities of GTST in the field of digitalization. It was noted that the customs authorities of Turkmenistan are actively undergoing digital transformation. In December 2023, the “Single Window for Export-Import Transactions” project was launched in pilot mode, the TIR-EPD system is successfully operating, and information interaction with customs administrations of other countries is expanding.