Facilitation of transport and transit corridors in focus of OSCE national training in Turkmenistan

An OSCE-organized national training course on the facilitation of transport and transit corridors through the development of the Integrated Border Management (IBM) Strategy and Action Plan with a particular focus on border crossing points (BCPs), took place from 25 to 27 November 2025 in Ashgabat.

The course brought together, in-person, officials from Turkmenistan’s border security and customs management, migration, law-enforcement, veterinary, phytosanitary and sanitary epidemiological services agencies.

The Officer-in-Charge of the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat, representative of the State Frontier Service of Turkmenistan and Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Turkmenistan made opening speeches.

In his address at the opening of the national event, Rune Castberg, Officer-in-Charge of the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat, said: “With the rapidly changing landscape of global trade, ensuring connectivity among economies has become crucial to participating States in global economic growth, strengthening stability and security. “

“We aim to promote the exchange of best practices on management of border crossing points, facilitation of transport and transit corridors through the development of the Integrated Border Management Strategy and Action Plan, which are the main topics of this three-day training course,” stressed Castberg.

“We must be vigilant about the advanced techniques and tactics employed by our adversaries to evade or circumvent our border security efforts. As frontline defenders, border and customs officers are instrumental in identifying and preventing such threats,” he added.

The national event served as a platform to support the implementation of national priorities in the field of Integrated/Coordinated Border Management (IBM/CBM) and assist the national authorities in further developing their IBM Strategies and Action Plans. In addition, the training course discussed efficient and effective intra-agency, inter-agency, and international co-operation and co-ordination between all relevant stakeholders. The discussions complemented by practical exercises aimed to acquaint the participants with efficient harmonization of border crossing, migration and customs procedures from the perspective of human rights to enable free movement of people by promoting open but secure borders and smooth movement of transit goods across borders.

The event brought together leading subject matter experts from the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), European Union-funded Border Management Programme in Central Asia (BOMCA 10) and International Organization for Migration (IOM). International experts shared practical examples and experiences in developing national IBM strategies and implementation plans.

The national training course was organized within the framework of the Centre’s extrabudgetary project “Strengthening State Border Service Capacities of Turkmenistan” and financially supported by the Government of Germany.