The National Resistance Movement (NRM) has said Uganda is seeking to benefit from Turkmenistan’s vast experience in natural gas production following talks between the party leadership and a delegation from the Democratic Party of Turkmenistan.
Speaking after a meeting between NRM Secretary General Richard Todwong and Ata Serdarov, the leader of the visiting delegation, NRM Director for External Relations Pollar Awich said the discussions focused on strengthening political and economic cooperation between the two parties.
Awich said the visit by the Turkmenistan delegation was significant because the Central Asian country is among the world’s leading nations in natural gas reserves and production.
“We need to cooperate in areas of expertise in gas because Uganda also has oil and gas resources,” Awich said. “There is a lot Uganda can learn from Turkmenistan’s experience in the energy sector.”
He said the discussions are expected to pave the way for closer cooperation through the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two parties.
According to Awich, the delegation’s visit reflects the growing international profile of the NRM and its expanding relations with political parties across the world.
“This was their first time to visit Uganda and they expressed interest in building stronger relations with the NRM,” he said. “We are going to continue with political consultations that will move our cooperation forward.”
Awich said the NRM has recently hosted several foreign delegations at the party headquarters, including representatives from Zimbabwe’s Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), Rwanda’s Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), Burundi’s CNDD–FDD and Algeria’s National Liberation Front (FLN).
He added that the NRM is also deepening cooperation with the Communist Party of China following the signing of a cooperation agreement between the two parties.