TURKMENISTAN: NEW BOARD OF TRADE OPENS

C O N F I D E N T I A L ASHGABAT 001375 SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/CEN E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/20/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON EFIN ETRD TX SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: NEW BOARD OF TRADE OPENS Classified By: Charge Sylvia Reed Curran for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (SBU) As part of the numerous new building openings in the run-up to Turkmenistan's independence day holiday, on October 20 the new building that houses the Ministry of Trade and Foreign Economic Relations, as well as the Board of Trade, opened. This Board of Trade is different from others or from a regular stock exchange. Instead of a trading floor, with traders running and shouting, there are cushioned seats for several hundred. Attached to each seat is a computer that can be accessed by a smart card. Since none of the traders had smart cards, each had a blue laminated card with a number on it. In order to trade, one of three people on a dais at the front of the room called on a trader who held his card up. Once called upon, the trader stands, states what he wants to buy, at what price and at which border he planned to pick up the goods (NOTE: Traders apparently only buy and sell items for export. END NOTE.) Then another trader raises his card and says he is willing to buy at a cheaper price. This goes on until one of the people on the dais rings a bell to signal a final sale. Items for sale are listed in a booklet. ¶2. (SBU) The Board of Trade is open Mondays and Wednesdays. Once a sale is made, the purchaser pays the appropriate government ministry at a bank and receives a rceipt that entitles him to pick up his goods on the border in two-three months time. Most items sold today were to be picked up at the Iranian or Afghan borders. ¶3. (C) Since this was the inauguration of the new premises, most of the people in attendance were not traders, but invited guests, many of whom found the proceedings confusing. Others started to doze. The Chinese ambassador managed to get the computer at his seat to work without a smart card. Once on the Internet, he checked his private e-mail and started to play games. ¶4. (SBU) COMMENT: Different from the hustle and bustle one finds at the Chicago Board of Trade, this exchange was more sedate and controlled. Instead of the shouting over pork bellies and wheat futures one might find in the United States, the Turkmen prefer to trade their ginned cotton type 4 in a predictable manner. The market, however, is not predictable. END COMMENT. CURRAN