ISLAMABAD, Oct 7 The ambassador of Turkmenistan here on Wednesday said 75 per cent of the government budget in his country was set aside for welfare of common people through implementation of socio-economic reforms.

Sapar Berdiniyazov was speaking at a seminar, “Relations through history and culture Pakistan and Turkmenistan” organised by Pakistan Society of Asian Civilizations at the National Language Authority. Russian Ambassador Andrey Sergeevich Budnik and Senator Abdul Malik from Balochistan were also present.

The ambassador, who is also the dean of the diplomatic corps in Islamabad, said the president of his country believed that “the state is for the people.” To realise this, he added, his country had achieved economic objectives at a very fast pace and launched a number of mega projects such as construction of hospitals and international standard educational institutions as well as state-of-the-art Olympic City which might be the biggest sports centre in the whole Central Asia.

As for the impact of such policies, the state provides free education, healthcare and electricity to its citizens.

“Turkmenistan has proposed exporting gas under Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline project. During the ECO meeting held in Tehran on March 11 this year, President Asif Ali Zardari and his Turkmen counterpart Gurbanguly Berdimuhame-dov reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthening relations between the two countries.— A Reporter