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Science and technology in Turkmenistan examines government policies relative to the promotion of science, technology and innovation in Turkmenistan.
Turkmenistan has been undergoing rapid change − with little social upheaval − since the election of President Gurbanguly Berdimuhammadov in 2007 (re-elected in 2012), following the death of ‘president for life’ Sparamurat Niyazov. Turkmenistan has been moving towards a market economy ever since this policy was enshrined in the Constitution in 2008. In parallel, however, the government offers a minimum wage and continues to subsidize a wide range of commodities and services, including gas and electricity, water, wastewater disposal, telephone subscriptions, public transportation (bus, rail and local flights) and some building materials (bricks, cement, slate). [1]
Economic liberalization policies are being implemented gradually. Thus, as the standard of living has risen, some subsidies have been removed, such as those for flour and bread in 2012. Turkmenistan has one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. By introducing a fixed exchange rate of US$1 to 2.85 Turkmen manat in 2009, the president caused the ‘black’ foreign exchange market to disappear, making the economy more attractive to foreign investment. [1]
A fledgling private sector is emerging with the opening of the country's first iron and steel works and the development of a chemical industry and other light industries in construction, agro-food and petroleum products. Turkmen gas is now exported to China and the country is developing one of the largest gas fields in the world, Galkinish, with estimated reserves of 26 trillion m3 of gas. Avaz on the Caspian Sea has been turned into a holiday resort, with the construction of dozens of hotels which can accommodate more than 7 000 tourists. In 2014, some 30 hotels and holiday homes were under construction. [1]
The country has embarked on a veritable building boom, with the construction of 48 kindergartens, 36 secondary schools, 25 sports academies, 16 stadiums, 17 health centres, 8 hospitals, 7 cultural centres and 1.6 million m2 of housing in 2012 alone. Across the country, roads, shopping centres and industrial enterprises are all under construction. Turkmenistan's railway transport and metropolitan trains have been upgraded and the country is buying state-of-the-art aircraft.
Schools around the country were being renovated in 2014, with 20-year old textbooks being replaced and modern multimedia teaching methods introduced. All schools, universities and research institutes are being equipped with computers, broadband and digital libraries. Internet has only been available to the public since 2007, which explains why just 9.6% of the population had access to it in 2013, the lowest proportion in Central Asia. [1]
Movement within the country has become easier with the removal of identity checkpoints – at one time there were no fewer than 10 between Ashgabat and Turkmenabat. This development should facilitate the mobility of scientists around the country. [1]
President Berdimuhammadov is far more committed to science than his predecessor. In 2009, he restored the Turkmen Academy of Sciences and its reputed Sun Institute, both dating from the Soviet era. The exploration of the potential use of solar energy and other renewable sources of energy is one of the 12 priority research areas determined by the president in 2010. The full list is as follows: [1]
The Sun Institute was restored by the president in 2009 and has since been renamed the Institute of Solar Energy. Although Turkmenistan is blessed with abundant oil and gas reserves and produces enough electric power for its own needs, it is difficult to lay power lines in the Kopet Dag mountains or arid parts of the country: about 86% of Turkmenistan is desert. Local generation of wind and solar energy gets around this problem and creates jobs. [1]
Scientists at the Sun Institute are implementing a number of long-term projects, such as the design of minisolar accumulators, solar batteries, wind and solar photovoltaic plants and autonomous industrial mini-biodiesel units. These units will be used to develop arid areas and the territory around the Turkmen Lake, as well as to foster tourism in Avaz on the Caspian seashore. In isolated parts of the country, ‘sun’ scientists are working on schemes to pump water from wells and boreholes, recycle household and industrial wastes, produce biodiesel and organic fertilizers and raise ‘waste-free’ cattle. Their achievements include solar drying and desalination units, the cultivation of algae in solar photobioreactors, a ‘solar’ furnace for high temperature tests, solar greenhouses and a biogas production unit. A wind and energy unit has been installed on Gyzylsu Island in the Caspian Sea to supply water to the local school. [1]
Within the Tempus project, ‘sun’ scientists have been trained (or retrained) since 2009 at the Technical University Mountain Academy of Freiberg (Germany). ‘Sun’ scientists are also studying the possibility of producing silicon from the Karakum sands for photovoltaic converters, thanks to a grant from the Islamic Development Bank. [1]
Many national research institutions established during the Soviet era have since become obsolete with the development of new technologies and changing national priorities. This has led Turkmenistan to reduce the number of its research institutions since 2009 by grouping existing ones to create research hubs. Several of the Turkmen Academy of Science's institutes were merged in 2014: the Institute of Botany was merged with the Institute of Medicinal Plants to become the Institute of Biology and Medicinal Plants; the Sun Institute was merged with the Institute of Physics and Mathematics to become the Institute of Solar Energy; and the Institute of Seismology merged with the State Service for Seismology to become the Institute of Seismology and Atmospheric Physics. [1]
Turkmenistan is developing technology parks as part of the drive to modernize infrastructure. In 2011, construction began of a technopark in the village of Bikrova near Ashgabat. It will combine research, education, industrial facilities, business incubators and exhibition centres. The technopark will house research on alternative energy sources (sun, wind) and the assimilation of nanotechnologies. [1]
In 2011, the president signed a decree creating the National Space Agency, which will be responsible for monitoring the Earth's orbit, launching satellite communication services, conducting space research and operating an artificial satellite over Turkmenistan's territory. [1]
The Turkmen State Institute of Oil and Gas was founded in 2012 before being transformed into the International Oil and Gas University a year later. Built on a 30-hectare site which includes a Centre for Information Technology, it can accommodate 3,000 students. This brings the number of training institutes and universities in the country to 16, including one private institution. [1]
The government has introduced a series of measures to encourage young people to pursue a career in science or engineering. These include a monthly allowance throughout their degree course for students enrolled in science and engineering and a special fund targeting the research of young scientists in priority areas for the government, namely: [1]
It is hard to gauge the impact of government measures in favour of research, since Turkmenistan does not make data available on higher education, research expenditure or researchers. [1]
One of the first laws adopted under Berdimuhammadov's presidency offered a state guarantee of equality for women, in December 2007. Some 16% of parliamentarians are women but there are no data on women researchers. A group of women scientists have formed a club to encourage women to choose a career in science and increase the participation of women in state programmes for science and technology and in decision-making circles. In 2015, the chair was Edzhegul Hodzhamadova, Senior Researcher at the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences. Club members meet with students, deliver lectures and give interviews to the media. The club is endorsed by the Women's Union of Turkmenistan, which has organized an annual meeting of more than 100 women scientists on National Science Day (12 June) ever since the day was instituted in 2009. [1]
The number of scientific papers published in Central Asia grew by almost 50% between 2005 and 2014, driven by Kazakhstan, which overtook Uzbekistan over this period to become the region's most prolific scientific publisher, according to Thomson Reuters' Web of Science (Science Citation Index Expanded). Turkmen scientists published most in the field of mathematics between 2008 and 2014. Scientific output rose between 2005 and 2014 from seven to 24 articles per year. This corresponds to five scientific articles per million inhabitants in 2014, the same ratio as for Tajikistan.
In comparison, Kazakh scientists tripled their output to 600 articles in a year between 2005 and 2014. They produced 35% of Central Asian articles recorded in the Thomson Reuters' database in 2005 and as many as 56% in 2014. Kazakh output nevertheless remains modest. There were 36 articles per million inhabitants in Kazakhstan in 2014, compared to 15 per million for Kyrgyzstan and 11 per million for Uzbekistan. [1]
The main partners of Turkmen scientists between 2008 and 2014 were Turkey (50 articles), the Russian Federation (11 articles), USA and Italy (6 each), China and Germany (4 each). [1]
No Turkmen patents were registered at the US Patent and Trademark Office between 2008 and 2013, compared to five for Kazakh inventors and three for Uzbek inventors. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan likewise registered no patents over this period. [1]
Turkmenistan is encouraging international co-operation with major scientific and educational centres abroad, including long-term partnerships. International scientific meetings have been held in Turkmenistan regularly since 2009 to foster joint research and the sharing of information and experience. [1]
Like the other four Central Asian republics, Turkmenistan is a member of several international bodies, including the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the Economic Cooperation Organization and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. All five Central Asian republics are also members of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Programme, which also includes Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, Mongolia and Pakistan. In November 2011, the 10 member countries adopted the CAREC 2020 Strategy, a blueprint for furthering regional co-operation. Over the decade to 2020, US$50 billion is being invested in priority projects in transport, trade and energy to improve members’ competitiveness. The landlocked Central Asian republics are conscious of the need to co-operate in order to maintain and develop their transport networks and energy, communication and irrigation systems. Only Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan border the Caspian Sea and none of the republics has direct access to an ocean, complicating the transportation of hydrocarbons, in particular, to world markets. [1]
Whereas Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan have been members of the World Trade Organization since 1998, 2013 and 2015 respectively, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan have adopted a policy of self-reliance. [1]
Central Asia is a region in Asia which stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. The region consists of the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. It is also colloquially referred to as "the stans" as the countries generally considered to be within the region all have names ending with the Persian suffix "-stan", meaning "land of". Various neighbouring areas are sometimes also considered part of the region.
Transport in Turkmenistan includes such as roadways, railways, airways, seaways, waterways, oil, gas and water pipelines.
The Armed Forces of Turkmenistan, known informally as the Turkmen National Army is the national military of Turkmenistan. It consists of the Ground Forces, the Air Force and Air Defense Forces, Navy, and other independent formations.
Turkmenistan's declaration of "permanent neutrality" was formally recognized by the United Nations in 1995. Former President Niyazov stated that the neutrality would prevent Turkmenistan from participating in multi-national defense organizations, but allows military assistance. Its neutral foreign policy has an important place in the country's constitution. Although the Government of Turkmenistan claims to favour trade with and export to the United States and Turkey, it has significant commercial relationships with Russia and Iran and a growing cross-border trade with Afghanistan. The Government of Turkmenistan often appears to be trying to use the conflicting interests of these regional powers as a means to extract concessions from the others, especially on energy issues.
Ashgabat, formerly named Poltoratsk between 1919 and 1927, is the capital and the largest city of Turkmenistan. It is situated between the Karakum Desert and the Kopet Dag mountain range in Central Asia. It is also near the Iran-Turkmenistan border.
Turkmenistan, also known as Turkmenia, is a sovereign country in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north and east, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ashgabat is the capital and largest city of the country. The population of the country is 6 million, the lowest of the Central Asian republics. Turkmenistan is one of the most sparsely populated nations in Asia. Citizens of Turkmenistan are known as Turkmenistanis or Turkmen.
Balkanabat (Балканабат), formerly Nebit-Dag and Neftedag, is a city in western Turkmenistan and the capital of Balkan Province, the largest province in the country. It is located at 39°31′0″N54°22′0″E, at an altitude of 17 metres.
The Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline is a proposed subsea pipeline between Türkmenbaşy in Turkmenistan, and Baku in Azerbaijan. According to some proposals it will also include a connection between the Tengiz Field in Kazakhstan, and Türkmenbaşy. The Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline project is purposed to transport natural gas from Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan to European Union member countries, circumventing both Russia and Iran. It is also considered as a natural eastward extension of Southern Gas Corridor. This project attracts significant interest since it will connect vast Turkmen gas resources to major consumer geographies as Turkey and Europe.
The Central Asia–China gas pipeline is a natural gas pipeline system from Central Asia to Xinjiang in the People's Republic of China. By connecting Turkmenistan to China’s domestic grid, this pipeline makes it possible to transport gas some 7000 km from Turkmenistan to Shanghai. More than half of Turkmen natural gas exports are delivered to China through the pipeline.
The Central Asia – Center gas pipeline system is a Gazprom controlled system of natural gas pipelines, which run from Turkmenistan via Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to Russia. The eastern branch includes the Central Asia - Center (CAC) 1, 2, 4 and 5 pipelines, which start from the south-eastern gas fields of Turkmenistan. The western branch consists of the CAC-3 pipeline and a project to build a new parallel Caspian pipeline. The western branch runs from the Caspian Sea coast of Turkmenistan to north. The branches meet in western Kazakhstan. From there the pipelines run to north where they are connected to the Russian natural gas pipeline system.
Iran and Turkmenistan share a common border of more than 1000 km. The two countries have good relations since Turkmenistan's independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Since then, the two countries have enjoyed good relations and have cooperated in economic, transportation, infrastructure development, and energy sectors. The two nations have historic ties, with Turkmenistan having once been a part of ancient Persia and Greater Iran.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Turkmenistan:
Turkmenistan has 4,980 kilometres (3,090 mi) of railways. The railway operator is the state owned company Türkmendemirýollary. The company belongs to the Ministry of Railways of Turkmenistan.
Turkmenistan is a country with large potential for an expanded tourism industry. Many of its Central Asian cities were main points of trade on the Silk Road, linking Eastern and Western civilizations. Many neighboring countries promote their countries based on their location along the Great Silk Road. Tourism has grown rapidly in recent years. Tourists from abroad are deterred by the restrictive visa regime with all countries of the world. Tourism is regulated by the Tourism Committee of Turkmenistan.
Türkmendemirýollary Agency is a state-owned operator of railways in Turkmenistan. The company operates 4,980 km (3,090 mi) of railways and over 345 railway stations throughout the country. The company belongs to the Ministry of Industry and Construction Operation of Turkmenistan. It is headquartered in Ashgabat.
Science and Technology is Jordan's fastest-growing economic sector. This growth is occurring across multiple industries, including information and communications technology (ICTs), solar and wind energy and nuclear technology.
Science and technology in Kazakhstan outlines government policies to develop science, technology and innovation in Kazakhstan.
Science and technology in Uzbekistan examines government efforts to develop a national innovation system and the impact of these policies.
Science and technology in Kyrgyzstan examines government efforts to develop a national innovation system and the impact of these policies.
Science and technology in Tajikistan examines government efforts to develop a national innovation system and the impact of these policies.