On October 12, a high-level roundtable entitled “Turkmenistan – European Training Foundation: Human Capital as the Foundation of Connectivity” was held at the Turkmen State Institute of Architecture and Construction. The event was organized by the Ministry of Education of Turkmenistan and the European Training Foundation (ETF), with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan and the Delegation of the European Union, reports the IIC of Turkmenistan.

The event was attended by ETF Director Pilvi Torsti, EU Special Representative for Central Asia Eduards Stiprais, Ambassador of the European Union to Turkmenistan Luc Devigne, representatives of government agencies, rectors of higher education institutions and experts from international organizations.

Participants discussed issues of modernizing vocational and higher education, digitalization of the educational process and training specialists in line with labor market needs. Particular attention was paid to developing competencies in transport, logistics, energy and digital communications within the framework of the EU Global Gateway strategy.

During the discussions, the parties also addressed issues of mutual recognition of diplomas and qualifications, as well as expanding the participation of Turkmen students and teachers in the Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe programmes.

A separate topic was the prospects for cooperation between Turkmenistan and the European Union for 2028–2034. The parties discussed the preparation of a joint action programme between the Ministry of Education of Turkmenistan and the ETF, as well as the possibility of establishing a working group to coordinate and implement joint initiatives.