The agreement was signed during the First Caspian Economic Forum, which was held in Turkmenistan’s Awaza on August 11-12.
The sides agreed that mutual development would contribute to the preservation of stability in the region, and laid emphasis on the need for respect for the national interests of the littoral states.
They also addressed the significance of the body of water’s legal status, which was agreed upon by the five countries in August last year in the Kazakh port city of Aktau after more than two decades of intermittent discussion.
On August 12, 2018, the "Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea" was signed in Aktau, Kazakhstan and the Communiqué of the Fifth Caspian Summit was adopted.
Based on these documents, in order to effectively implement the Convention and review cooperation issues in the Caspian Sea, the High-Level Working Group for the Caspian Sea has been established as a regular five-sided consultation mechanism consisting of authorized representatives of the Caspian littoral states.
During the meeting, the Caspian countries also discussed the possibility of creating joint companies, exchanging economic-commercial standards, regulations, and statistics as a means of enabling better cooperation among them.
The first economic forum of the Caspian Sea littoral states started on Sunday in Turkmenistan with representatives of the governments, private sectors, academic communities and a number of international organizations.
Within the forum, topics such as project implementation and joint plans, exchange of experiences on the development of special zones or economic freedom, legislation and standards, digital economy, cooperation between coastal regions and joint ventures were reviewed.
