Trade Is Slowly Opening One of the World's Most Isolated Nations

AI Summary

Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan are enhancing trade relations with new agreements to streamline technical specifications and harmonize customs statistics, aiming to integrate Turkmenistan into trans-Caspian trade routes and open one of the world's most isolated markets.

Azerbaijan is working hard to coax Turkmenistan out of its shell and integrate Ashgabat into trans-Caspian trade routes. Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev exchanged a variety of trade-related agreements with Turkmenistan’s titular head of state, Serdar Berdymukhamedov, during a June 22 ceremony in Baku. A joint statement issued after the ceremony highlighted an agreement to streamline “technical specifications” concerning the movement of goods and vehicles between the two countries, and another to harmonize “customs statistics…