TURKMENISTAN: ACADEMY OF SCIENCES MEETS WITH

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 000212 SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EUR/ACE, OES E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/12/2020 TAGS: EAID TSPL PREL PGOV SENV TX SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: ACADEMY OF SCIENCES MEETS WITH EUR/ACE DELEGATION REF: A. 09 ASHGABAT 767 ¶B. 09 ASHGABAT 1600 ¶C. ASHGABAT 47 ¶D. ASHGABAT 170 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Sylvia Reed Curran. Reasons 1.4 (B) a nd (D). ¶1. (U) Members of the Central Asia Assistance Review delegation in Turkmenistan met with officials of the Academy of Sciences on February 3 to discuss current programs of cooperation and possibilities for future expansion. The President of the Academy of Sciences, Gurbanmyrat Mezilov, gave a quick overview of the Academy's structure and programs, since it had been restructured in June 2009 (Refs A and B). The delegation congratulated Mezilov on his appointment in January as President. (NOTE: He had been Acting President of the Academy since June 2009. END NOTE.) ¶2. (U) Orazmamed Vasov, head of the International Relations Department, described several of the "most successful and useful" projects, including two training centers, established jointly with two USAID projects. The International Financial Reporting Standards Center conducts financial reporting standards training for Central Bank employees, as well as economics training for professors and other programs. The Center for Interactive and Multimedia Learning trains school teachers in the use of multimedia devices like interactive blackboards. Vasov also noted that Academy of Sciences' staff had highly valued the exchanges in which they participated. The USAID Community Connections program sent three Turkmen scholars to the United States to learn about alternative energy, which is a priority for Turkmenistan President Berdimuhamedov. Mezilov talked about the upcoming February alternative energy conference (Ref C) as a mechanism for dialogue with neighbors on climate change and regional energy issues. He said that over 30 governments would participate and noted this as a mark of Turkmenistan's cooperation with other countries. ¶3. (SBU) In response to questions about Internet usage in schools, Vasov mentioned that the Academy of Sciences formed a "National Research and Education Network" that currently links 69 education and research institutions, including 27 schools. This network allows schools to link to each other and to connect to high speed Internet. Other schools not yet on the network can connect to the Internet through the local telephone company, Turkmen Telecom. Mezilov emphasized that introducing high technology in all spheres is a presidential priority. The Turkmen Government is already beginning initiatives such as installing multimedia boards in all university and school classrooms, and circulating documents electronically instead of on paper. ¶4. (SBU) When asked for other areas of possible cooperation, Vasov answered that the Academy of Sciences is looking for more foreign language training. He said demand for English language training is high, because it is the language of exchanges of scientific information. In order to attract more attention to the Academy of Sciences from abroad, the Academy's website (www.science.gov.tm) is in English, as well as Turkmen and Russian. ¶5. (C) COMMENT: Mezilov and the staff at the Academy of Sciences appeared to view the Academy as on a par with any international scientific institution, which may in part explain why they did not seem excited about the idea of solving regional problems with the other Central Asian states. They would rather work with the United States, South Korea, and other developed countries. Although Mezilov insisted that interest in the sciences is increasing every ASHGABAT 00000212 002 OF 002 year and that they have three times more applicants for research programs this year than last, other Embassy contacts say that the science programs in Turkmenistan have been severely limited by constrained budgets and lack of knowledge of Russian or other world languages (Ref D). The Academy of Sciences is taking steps that will improve scientific knowledge in Turkmenistan, but Mezilov's answers showed that there is still a lot of room for programs that train people to use the new technology that the government is installing. END COMMENT. CURRAN