Turkmenistan and PETRONAS Sign Memorandum to Strengthen Education Cooperation
Ashgabat, August 21, 2026 — A meeting focused on further developing cooperation between Turkmenistan and Malaysia in education and professional training was held at the Ministry of Education of Turkmenistan.
The meeting was attended by Minister of Education of Turkmenistan J. Gurbangeldiyev, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Malaysia to Turkmenistan Mohd Suhaimi bin Ahmad Tajuddin, and a delegation of PETRONAS Çarigali (Turkmenistan) Sdn. Bhd. led by its Chief Executive Officer, Ismadi bin Ismail.
The participants discussed the current state of cooperation between the two countries in education and prospects for its further development. Particular attention was paid to the importance of cooperation in training highly qualified specialists for the oil and gas industry.
PETRONAS’s long-standing activities in Turkmenistan were highlighted as an example of long-term and mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries. With the company’s support, scholarships are regularly provided to Turkmen youth to study at prestigious higher education institutions in Malaysia. Opportunities to study at Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS are particularly important for training qualified specialists.
It was also noted that the National Leader of the Turkmen people, Hero-Arkadag Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, is an Honorary Doctor of the prestigious Malaysian university.
To date, nearly 20 cooperation documents have been signed between Turkmenistan and Malaysia in the field of education. In June this year, during the visit of the Prime Minister of Malaysia to Turkmenistan, three agreements on student exchange and academic mobility programmes were signed between three Turkmen higher education institutions and Universiti Tenaga Nasional of Malaysia. The agreements were signed during the international scientific and practical conference and exhibition titled “Turkmenistan–Malaysia: 30 Years of Mutually Beneficial Cooperation in the Oil and Gas Industry.”
The meeting also reviewed the results of cooperation between Yagshygeldi Kakayev International University of Oil and Gas, PETRONAS and Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS. As part of the ongoing cooperation, lecturers and students of the Turkmen university regularly participate in professional development courses at Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS.
A key event of the meeting was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Education of Turkmenistan and PETRONAS Çarigali (Turkmenistan) Sdn. Bhd.
The signing coincided with the 30th anniversary of PETRONAS’s cooperation with Turkmenistan in the oil and gas sector.
The new Memorandum is expected to create additional opportunities for developing cooperation in education and professional training, implementing joint initiatives and projects, and helping young people enhance their educational and professional qualifications.
At the conclusion of the meeting, the parties expressed confidence that education cooperation between Turkmenistan and Malaysia would continue to expand and that the objectives set out in the Memorandum would be implemented in practice in the near future.
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