On 30 August 2026, a meeting took place at the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Turkmenistan between delegations led by Rashid Meredov, Foreign Affairs Minister of Turkmenistan, and Toshimitsu Motegi, Foreign Affairs Minister of Japan, who had arrived in Ashgabat on a visit. This was reported by the press office of the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Turkmenistan.

The parties reviewed the state of affairs and prospects for Turkmen-Japanese relations in the political, diplomatic, trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian spheres.

Particular attention was paid to cooperation within international organisations, including the UN, as well as collaboration within the ‘Central Asia + Japan’ framework. The Japanese side reaffirmed its support for Turkmenistan’s foreign policy course of permanent neutrality.

In the economic sphere, discussions centred on cooperation in gas chemistry, the electricity sector and transport, as well as prospects for collaboration in the fields of advanced technologies and artificial intelligence. The participation of Japanese companies, including ‘Sumitomo Corporation’, ‘Toyo Engineering Corporation’, ‘Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd.’, ‘ITOCHU Corporation’ and ‘Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.’, in the implementation of industrial projects in Turkmenistan.

The parties also discussed preparations for a joint meeting of the Turkmen-Japanese and Japanese-Turkmen Committees on Economic Cooperation, which is scheduled to take place this year in Tokyo.

Following the negotiations, a Programme of Cooperation between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan for the period 2027–2029 was signed.