Organization of Turkic States appoints Baghdad Amreyev head of Investment Fund

The leaders of the Organization of Turkic States established Turkic Investment Fund and appointed Baghdad Amreyev, the bloc's former secretary general, as its president, a statement said on Saturday.

The special decision was signed at the 9th summit of the Organization of Turkic States in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on Friday.

"The Turkic Investment Fund will be the first and main joint financial institution established by the Turkic States and aims to mobilize the economic potential of Member States of the Organization Turkic States to strengthen the trade and economic cooperation between them and to implement joint projects," according to the statement.

The fund "will mainly support small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) by providing them finance through the Fund's assets as well as other competent financial institutions."

It aims at supporting areas of agriculture, logistics, and transport, energy efficiency, renewable and alternative energy, industrial projects in manufacturing information and communication technologies, tourism, infrastructure projects, public-private partnership projects, human development, creative industries, and natural and urban environment schemes.

Meanwhile, Kubanychbek Omuraliev, Kyrgyzstan's ambassador to Türkiye, was appointed as the organization's new secretary general.

There will be a handover ceremony at the group's headquarters in Istanbul on Monday, where Omuraliev will take over the post from his predecessor Amreyev.

The Organization of Turkic States is an interstate bloc, established with the aim of expanding cooperation between Turkic-speaking countries in the fields of politics, economics, science, education, transport, and tourism.

Its members are Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Türkiye, and Uzbekistan.

Hungary, Turkmenistan, and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus have observer status.