Ashgabat – The International Organization for Migration / UN Migration Agency (IOM) together with the State Migration Service of Turkmenistan held a teleconference seminar on the legislative regulation of the Advance Passenger Information system (API). The event was organized within the framework of the regional project for the Central Asian countries "Implementation of the Advance Passenger Information system in Central Asia", funded by the IOM Development Fund. The seminar was attended by representatives of an API working group particularly: State Migration Service, State Border Service, "Turkmenhowayollary" agency, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, State Frontier Service, Ministry of National Security and State Customs Service.

During the seminar, IOM legal expert, Dr. Rishi Gulatti, presented an overview and analysis of the existing legislation of Turkmenistan that is relevant to the regulation of API, presented a possible model of legislative framework, that is based on international best practices, as well as discussed a number of key issues to further improve the national legislation for the API introduction in Turkmenistan. Participants addressed a number of questions to the expert, which Dr. R. Gulati commented as key for the API implementation process. Azat Atajanov, IOM Head of Office in Turkmenistan, on behalf of the organization, thanked participants for their active participation and assured IOM's readiness to continue working with the state ministries and agencies of Turkmenistan on the implementation of API and plans to organize a series of events in 2021 within the framework of the National Action Plan for cooperation between the Government of Turkmenistan and IOM.