On November 28, 2024, the Chairman of the State Customs Service of Turkmenistan met with the Executive Secretary of the International Center for Transport Diplomacy (ICTD) Igor Runov. The meeting was organized as part of Mr. Runov's working visit to Turkmenistan, who arrived to participate in the International Conference on Sustainable Transport in Ashgabat, as well as in related events, in particular, the Ministerial Meeting of the above-mentioned Group of Friends on November 26-27, 2024.

The topic of the meeting was devoted to the issue of concluding a trilateral  Memorandum on Mutual Recognition of Authorized Economic Operators (AEO) with the participation of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. As noted, the implementation of this regional project will contribute to the development of transit corridors running through these countries.

The Turkmen side informed about the progress of the phased implementation of the AEO program in Turkmenistan. It was noted that mutual recognition of AEOs is currently being considered bilaterally with a number of countries. In this regard, a willingness to study the proposed trilateral project was expressed.