TURKMEN GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

UNCLAS ASHGABAT 000047 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/CEN AND FOR OES (SCHENA),ASTANA FOR HUDSPETH, ENERGY FOR EKIMOFF/BURPOE/COHEN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: TRGY ENRG BTIO PGOV SENV TX SUBJECT: TURKMEN GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES ALTERNATIVE ENERGY CONFERENCE REF: A. 09 ASHGABAT 1676 ¶B. 09 ASHGABAT 1600 ¶1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public internet. ¶2. (U) On January 11, the Turkmenistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent an announcement to all diplomatic missions about a conference, "Problems of Use of Alternative Energy in Turkmenistan," that is being organized by the Academy of Sciences on February 24-25. This notice included a brief description of the topics for the conference and detailed instructions for registration. According to the announcement, the conference will focus on the technical, ecological, and economic aspects of the development of alternative energy sources. In addition, conference topics will include new research, new technologies, and maintenance of existing systems. The conference organizers stated that their goals for the conference are to compare foreign and domestic experience in using alternative energy, and to attract partners to assist in increasing the use of alternative energy and in the introduction of new technologies. ¶3. (U) The remainder of the material submitted with the diplomatic note was a solicitation for conference participants. The organizers requested potential participants to submit a summary and abstract of the report that they would present. The working languages of the conference will be Turkmen, English, and Russian. The announcement added that applicants invited by the organizing committee will be fully reimbursed for all travel and lodging expenses. The announcement did not discuss registration procedures for conference participants who will not make a presentation. Additional information about the conference is available on the Academy of Sciences' website at www.science.gov.tm/en/events/conf sun energ/ ¶4. (SBU) COMMENT: The Turkmen Government appears to be putting a lot of effort into this alternative energy conference, probably because Turkmenistan President Berdimuhamedov announced in 2009 that the Academy of Sciences needed to bolster research on alternative energy (Ref A). Unfortunately, the formal announcement arrived at Post only four days before the participant application deadline, leaving little time to spread the word. The delay was more likely caused by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs bureaucracy than by the conference organizers. When Poloff met with the Academy of Sciences at the end of November 2009, they mentioned the conference (Ref B). One positive is how accessible the Academy of Sciences has made information. The registration information included in the dip note has been on the Academy's website since November 2009. The organizers gave an email address to submit registration documents, and they provided phone numbers for additional information, both in English and Russian. In addition, the fact that the conference title contains the word "problems" indicates that a more open discussion of the current situation might occur than the Turkmen Government usually allows. END COMMENT. CURRAN