ARKADAG /Turkmenistan/, June 29. /TASS/. The opening ceremony of the first phase of the new city Arkadag was held with the participation of Turkmenistan’s President Serdar Berdimuhamedov on Thursday, a TASS correspondent reports.
Celebrations were held in the city located 30 km from the capital of Ashgabat on the 66th birthday of Chairman of the People's Council of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov. He started work on construction of the city in 2019. Meanwhile, the chairman of the Council did not attend the ceremony: earlier reports said that he is to head the country’s delegation that will visit Mecca in Saudi Arabia for hajj.
The ceremony was attended by representatives of Russia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Germany, Georgia, Qatar, Kyrgyzstan, China, Turkey, Uzbekistan and Japan. Russia is represented by members of the governments of Tatarstan, as well as the Astrakhan and Chelyabinsk regions. The city was also visited by delegates from international organizations.
As part of the first stage of Arkadag construction, 336 modern buildings were erected, including comfortable high-rise apartment buildings, public, educational, medical and cultural facilities, athletic facilities and utility systems. Some 43,000 people will inhabit the new buildings. Earlier reports said that $3.3 bln had been invested in the construction. The second stage of the city (to last from 2023 to 2026) was launched earlier this month, within which it is planned to build maintenance and production facilities to produce food, industrial, pharmaceutical and medical products.
Arkadag will be managed on the basis of the "smart city" system and it will become the first settlement of its kind in Turkmenistan. Environmentally clean transport, "smart parking lots," and solar batteries will be used here. The two phases of the city will cover an area of 1,002 hectares, while the population is expected to reach around 73,000 people.
Arkadag has been decreed a city of national importance by Turkmenistan’s governing bodies, a first for the country. Even the republic’s capital does not enjoy such a status. Turkmenistan’s Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers, Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov explained earlier that all issues related to defining the city’s territory, organizing the activity of its public organs and other management aspects are under the authority of the state and will be resolved by established procedure by central authorities of the country’s power of the state.